RFE/RL's Baghdad Bureau Chief Shot Dead

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi presidential guard has shot dead the Baghdad bureau chief of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI), Mohammed Bdaiwi Owaid.
The shooting occurred on March 22 at the gate of the compound housing RFI's offices in Jadriyah neighborhood.
Witnesses said Owaid was driving his car through the guarded gate, when he had a verbal argument over the right of passage with a member of the Kurdish peshmerga forces traveling in a vehicle. The officer shot Owaid before fleeing the scene.
The peshmerga militia is responsible for guarding the compound controlled by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, which also houses the presidential residence as well as offices and private residences.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met briefly with members of Owaid's family at the scene of the killing, and promised them to bring the killer to justice.
Maliki later followed the head of Baghdad security forces into the office of the unit guarding the compound. Two attack helicopters were seen hovering over the area.
Media activists held a demonstration in the area of the shooting.