Gunmen shot and seriously wounded Al Arabiya's senior correspondent in Iraq during an apparent kidnapping attempt in Baghdad today.
The 37-year-old Iraqi journalist, Jawad Kadhem, was leaving a restaurant when two gunmen approached him in what appeared to be a kidnapping attempt, said Nabil al-Khatib, executive editor of the Dubai-based television channel.
Iraqi policemen at the scene fired at the gunmen, who shot back hitting Kadhem in the neck and jaw before fleeing. Khatib said the motive behind the attack was not clear.
"He had never been threatened or attacked before," he said, adding that Kadhem was in serious but stable condition.
Witnesses said Kadhem was grabbed by at least two gunmen as he emerged from the popular restaurant in central Baghdad.
Television pictures showed Kadhem in hospital, breathing heavily before being taken into the operating theater. His green polo shirt was stained with blood.
The pictures showed that he had been shot under the chin and that the bullet had emerged through his cheek.
Khatib said Kadhem was known to be an even-handed journalist who had covered stories across the political divide in Iraq.
Eight Al Arabiya employees have died in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion, three killed by US forces and five killed in a car bombing of its Baghdad office by suspected militants last October.