REPORTS: ISIL EXECUTES IRAQI JOURNALIST

Salaheddin, Iraq, 17 Dzulhijjah 1435/11 October 2014 (MINA) – Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have publicly executed a news cameraman and three civilians in northern Iraq, according to the dead journalist’s relatives.

ISIL shot Raad al-Azzawi, 37, his brother and two other civilians on Friday in the village of Samra, east of Tikrit, in Salaheddin governorate, the relatives said, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“They came to his home and took him and his brother,” one relative said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He did nothing wrong; his only crime was to be a cameraman. He was just doing his job.”

Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the reports of the public executions.

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Azzawi, a father of three, was detained by ISIL fighters on September 7.

In a statement issued last month, RSF said ISIL threatened to execute Azzawi on the grounds that he had refused to work for the Sunni-led armed group.

Azzawi had worked for local news channel Salaheddin, which had previously been attacked by the armed group.

In December, two suicide bombers stormed the channel’s headquarters killing five journalists, including the channel’s chief news editor, after accusing Salaheddin distorting the image of Iraq’s Sunni community. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)