Freelance journalist killed in Iraq

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A freelance journalist who reported from Iraq for Reuters and CNN has been killed in an attack on a local government building, according to his employers. Reuters reports that Sabah al-Bazee, who had been contributing to the news agency from Iraq since 2004, suffered shrapnel wounds in an explosion in Tikrit on Tuesday. He was reportedly one of more than 50 people killed when the building was attacked.

"On behalf of the entire team at Thomson Reuters, I wish to convey our sadness at the untimely death of Sabah al-Bazee," Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler says in the report.

"He was a valued member of our team in Iraq and will be much missed by colleagues. This tragic incident shows yet again the risks journalists face daily in doing their jobs and to bring news to the world. "Our thoughts are with Sabah's family and friends." Al-Bazee's work is celebrated in a tribute article by Reuters correspondent Peter Graff in Baghdad.

"Like many of our Iraqi colleagues, he was young. Just 23 or so when he started taking pictures of war for a living. He had boundless energy, constantly pestering our reporters, photographers and cameramen for tips at how to hone his skills. How do you square that boisterousness with the bone-chilling images he photographed over the seven years he worked for us?"

He added: "The attack that claimed his life was one of the worst in years, in a country that is struggling to move beyond the bloodshed. Gunmen blasted their way into the provincial council building in Tikrit, seized hostages and executed them. Fifty-three people were killed and nearly 100 wounded. Sabah, who was killed by shrapnel, was outside the building, trying as always to get the news and to tell it." Colleagues at CNN also wrote a tribute post to the reporter, describing him as one of the many brave Iraqi journalists "whose courage and skills made him one of the best local reporters in the deadliest war for journalists since World War II."