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August 04, 2005

Steve Vincent Stayed Too Long

Timothy M. Phelps, Washington Bureau Chief for Newsday of New York, USA, spent three weeks in Basra, Iraq, in July 2005. Basra is where American freelance journalist Steve Vincent was killed on August 2, 2005, after he published a critical article in the July 31, 2005 edition of The New York Times describing the political and social climate in Basra. Mr. Phelps describes the danger encountered by a foreigner who stays too long:

There are three levels of danger to a foreigner in Basra. The smallest threat there is the biggest one to people elsewhere in Iraq: the Sunni insurgency tied in with the former regime. Sunnis are a fearful - not feared - minority in Basra now, and their terrorist activities are limited.

A greater threat is from the criminal gangs that roam Basra almost unhindered, kidnapping Iraqis for ransom and hijacking their cars.

The greatest threat here for those with any political connections, past or present, are the religious militias that work for the political parties governing Basra - and Iraq - and overlap with the police force. They have undertaken a campaign of assassinations against former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, as well as intellectuals, secular politicians and women who work for the U.S. or British governments or companies.Vincent wrote about this - not just last weekend, but over several months - and stayed to face the consequences. For more of Mr. Phelps' analysis, see his August 3, 2005 article headlined "NYC journalist killed in Iraq: Newsday reporter recalls meeting with Steve Vincent in Iraq."

Posted by Munir Umrani at August 4, 2005 08:58 PM

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