Alaa Abdulkareem Fartusi (1978? – February 10, 2008) was an Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 for al-Furat, a Shiite-backed satellite news station.

Career

Fartusi worked as a camera man for al-Furat for two years prior to his death in 2008.
Fellow al-Furat reporter Ahmed Mehdi said of him:

Death

Fartusi was part of a crew traveling to Samarra

Samarra

Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....

 for a story commemorating the 2nd anniversary of the February 2006 bombing of the Golden Mosque

Al-Askari Mosque

Al ‘Askarī Mosque or the ‘Askariyya Mosque/Shrine is a Shī‘ah Muslim holy site located in the Iraqi city of Sāmarrā from Baghdad. It is one of the most important Shī‘ah mosques in the world, built in 944...

, one of the holiest Shiite sites in Iraq. On February 10, 2008, while travelling to Samarra, a roadside bomb was detonated, killing Fartusi and the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in. According to Mehdi, Fartusi and his team were probably not targeting the station. The first journalist killed in Iraq in 2008, Fartusi leaves behind his wife and two children, daughters ages 1 and 3.