Al-Qaeda accepts blame for killing Iraqi scribe

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of Amjad Hameed, a journalist working for the government-run Iraqiya television.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on Monday for the killing of Amjad Hameed, a journalist working for the government-run Iraqiya television.

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"Your brothers...carried out the assassination of AmjadHameed, the director of the Iraqiya television channel, the mouthpiece of the government," said a statement issued by Al-Qaeda and posted on an Islamic website.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. Hameed was shot dead on Saturday by gunmen while on his way to work.

His driver, AnwarTurki, died later in hospital. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Hameed, a father of three, was the 11th Iraqiya journalist to be killed since the channel was launched shortly after Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster.

Insurgents in Iraq have often targeted Iraqi journalists whom they see as collaborators with the United States and the Shiite-dominated government.