Hatem Kamil Abdul Fatah (died November 1, 2004) was the deputy governor of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

Baghdad Governorate Baghdad Governorate ( ar, محافظة بغداد ''Muḥāfaẓät Baġdād''), also known as the Baghdad Province, is the capital governorate of Iraq. It includes the capital Baghdad as well as the surrounding metropolitan area. The governorat ...

. Hatem Kamil was assassinated by gunmen at 7.47am in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, in the southern district of Dura, while on his way to work. Two of his bodyguards were wounded in the attack. At the time of his death he had two children, a two-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. Hatem Kamil served as the Iraqi government's negotiator in Fallujah and had challenged claims that the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was actually in the region. "We want to know what evidence there is of Zarqawi's presence in Fallujah," he said in an interview with

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

television, prior to his assassination. "Zarqawi has become like Iraqi WMD ... We hear this name, but it doesn't exist. More than 15 to 20 houses were destroyed in Fallujah because they were accused of harboring Zarqawi or Zarqawi's followers."

References

Year of birth missing 2004 deaths 2004 in Iraq Deaths by firearm in Iraq Assassinated Iraqi politicians People murdered in Iraq 2004 murders in Iraq {{Iraq-politician-stub