A motorcycle gunman shot dead an Iraqi novelist close to his house in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Saturday, police and eyewitnesses said. Alaa Mashzoub, 50, was on his way home when he was shot multiple times, police said late on Saturday. It was unclear what the motive was and no group has claimed responsibility, they added. "The cultural scene has lost one of its special authors and creators," Iraq's Culture and Tourism Minister Abdul Amir Al-Hamdani said in a statement on Sunday. Mashzoub was active in local Kerbala civil society. Iraq's writers union condemned the shooting and blamed security forces for not doing enough to protect intellectuals. "The union holds the central and local government fully responsible, for they have failed to maintain public safety," it said in a statement. Mashzoub wrote several novels and short story collections that won local and regional literary awards. He was known for his criticism of corruption and foreign interference in his country. Mashzoub was known as a bold writer who was not afraid to broach political and religious taboos in his writings. The Iraqi writer graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Baghdad University in 1993 and held a doctorate in fine arts. He began his career writing for local media outlets and published various short stories and novels. His research into the history of his hometown was published in two parts as A Summary of Karbala Cultural History. Mashzoub spoke out against sectarianism and militias. His first book in 2008, In the Homeland and Nationalism, was a collection of poetry critical of foreign interference in Iraq and the role of religious clerics. In a Facebook post on Jan. 17, Mashzoub criticized Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's 1979 revolution. He also took part in last year's protests against poor public services and lack of jobs. — Agencies
