Iraq. Circumstances of death On the morning of January 19, 2004, al-Mayah left his house at 8am and starting driving his car, with another professor, Sarhan Abbas, in the passenger seat. Due to the road shape and traffic, he slowed down the car, and passed an outdoor shish kebab restaurant, El Banouk (The Bank), which was just about to open for the day. About a hundred metres further on, he slowed the car again because of a large pothole. A group of seven or eight men with their faces concealed by red keffiyehs (headscarves) appeared from a side road. Al-Mayah thought they were carjackers and was ready to hand them the keys. The attackers then shot al-Mayah more than 20 times. Al-Mayah's bodyguard, Mohamed Sahib, did not have a gun since he was still waiting for a gun licence from US authorities. Sahib stated, "They shouted for the car to stop... I remember one person fired directly at al-Mayah inside the car and I think another group also fired from the other side. He was shot three times in his head just as he was opening the car door to get out. He fell dead on to the ground." Speculation regarding death A senior commander at the headquarters of the Iraqi police, who insisted on remaining anonymous in fear for his safety, told the New Statesman reporter, "You can look no further than the Governing Council (IGC). There are political parties in this city who are systematically killing people. They are politicians that are backed by the Americans and who arrived to Iraq from exile with a list of their enemies. I've seen these lists. They are killing people one by one." Al-Mayah's brother told the New Statesman that his brother had received many emails advising him to "be less outspoken in his criticism of the IGC." At least one came from an IGC member. Al-Mayah's brother stated, "He never told me the name of this man, only that he was a dual national, someone who had come back from exile after the Americans invaded. He told me the man never actually threatened him. It was a sort of warning that it would be safer if he left the country. He was determined not to be swayed." At al-Mayah's funeral procession, a banner alleged that "America and the Zionists" were responsible for his death. One of al-Mayah's students, Salam Rais,