New | Mother of slain Iraqi presenter forgives killer, as fresh militant attacks kill five journalists
The mother of a young Iraqi television presenter who was shot dead in the northern city of Mosul met and forgave her killer, saying he sent her daughter to paradise.
The act of forgiveness over Nawras al-Nuaimi's death came on Monday just as fresh violence erupted against Iraqi journalists – when unknown gunmen killed five journalists in Tikrit city and seized control over a local television station – underscoring the continuing dangers facing the country’s press.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up, while security forces killed another two assailants when they seized hostages and battled security forces for hours as fire engulfed the upper floors of the building, where a state television channel also had a bureau.
We are stunned by ... the failure of authorities to respond to the deadly campaign against journalists
Among the dead were Salaheddin television’s chief news editor, a copy editor, a producer, a presenter and the archives manager, the officers said. Another five employees were wounded.
As the attack unfolded, Abu Mohamed, a reporter for the channel on the second floor, called his family to say goodbye.
“I told them, ‘We are trapped inside the building, and I don’t know if I will survive,” he said. “A few minutes later, two gunmen came in and took our phones and shouted at us, demanding that we stay in our rooms. They wore black masks and carried machine guns and hand grenades.”
The assault in Tikrit, about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad, appears to open a new, deadlier phase in a vicious campaign by al-Qaeda militants against journalists.
But on Monday, there was also a gesture of peace as the mother of Nawras al-Nuaimi met the man who killed her daughter, telling him that he “sent her as a bride to paradise”, and kissed his forehead, according to the Al-Mosuliyah channel, where Nuaimi worked before she died.