A journalist has been found shot dead in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, police and political party officials said Friday.
Shoukri Zeneldin had been working in Dohuk for KNN, a local television channel owned by the Goran (Change) movement, one of the region's main political parties.
"His family informed us that his body was found Thursday after he disappeared four days ago," Goran spokesman Abdul Razak Sharif said.
The 40-year-old journalist's body was found in a desert village in the Amadiya region, north of Dohuk, said police spokesman Hayman Atroushi.
Goran lawmaker Hoshyar Abdallah called the journalist's death "a real threat to the truth" and a "setback for democracy".
Goran has 24 MPs in the autonomous region's 111-seat parliament, having emerged as a third force to challenge the traditional parties.
It is now one of the region's top three parties, along with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of regional leader Massud Barzani.
Iraq is among the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.
Shoukri Zeneldin had been working in Dohuk for KNN, a local television channel.
