more on steven vincent

Mystery of Reporter Killed in Basra Deepens
By E&P Staff Published: October 09, 2005 3:20 PM ET
NEW YORK Steve Vincent, a New Yorker and a freelance reporter, remains the only American journalist slain in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad more than two years ago. It happened on Aug. 2, but more than two months later, no one has been caught or charged with his murder. Just before his death, after being kidnapped in Basra, he had written an Op-Ed for The New York Times. That newspaper re-visited his killing today, revealing or speculating on several fascinating angles, including the role that his very close relationship with his Iraqi interpreter may have played in the mystery. Vincent's death was followed on Sept. 19 by the slaying of Fakher Haider, 38, an Iraqi journalist working for the Times, with the circumstances similar and his killers also still at large. The paper's Kirk Semple wrote today, "Radical Shiite militias, who have infiltrated the government and police force in Basra, are widely suspected of committing the crimes, though it is not known whether the killings are linked in any way." Vincent and his Iraqi interpreter, Nooriya Taiz, were grabbed off the street by several armed men and thrown into a government pickup truck in Basra, and found several hours later, riddled with bullets. Taiz survived. From the beginning, speculation about a motive for Vincent's killing focused mainly on his reporting and that July 31 Op-Ed, which revealed his increasing concerns about the role of radical Shiites and the fundamentalist crackdown in that city since the January elections. But his relationship with Taiz may have also played a big part. .........


and the new york times article, Reporters' Mysterious Deaths Chill a Press Corps Immersed in Violence

By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: October 9, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 8 - This alone seems certain about the killing of the American freelance journalist Steven Vincent: about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, he and his Iraqi interpreter, Nooriya Taiz, were dragged by several armed men into a government pickup truck on a busy commercial street in the southern city of Basra, and found several hours later, riddled with bullets. Ms. Taiz survived. The attack, the first since the invasion in which an American journalist in Iraq was killed, has been the subject of investigations by the F.B.I. and the Iraqi police, who have made no official comments.
On Sept. 19, Fakher Haider, 38, an Iraqi journalist working for The New York Times, was murdered under similarly mysterious circumstances and his killers also remain at large. Radical Shiite militias, who have infiltrated the government and police force in Basra, are widely suspected of committing the crimes, though it is not known whether the killings are linked in any way.........