In a new development regarding the assassination of Iraqi blogger Ghufran Mahdi Sawadi, known as "Um Fahd," news reports indicated that Iraqi security forces arrested a hairdresser as a suspect. Blogger Um Fahd was killed on April 27 by an unknown assailant riding a motorcycle while she was in her car outside her home in central Baghdad. The arrest of the hairdresser occurred after Um Fahd documented her last video just hours before her assassination while at the salon of the suspect.
Her assassination is believed to be linked to threats and interactions with another blogger, along with suspicions of connections to an extortion network led by officers in the Interior and Defense ministries.
The family of the hairdresser stated, "Our son is innocent," and his mother insisted that he is "innocent," remarking, "Have you ever heard of a killer being discovered and arrested within five minutes?" She added that her son, Haitham, had just posted on his Instagram account the same video in which he was styling the Iraqi blogger’s hair at the moment of Um Fahd's assassination.
Moreover, Um Fahd's brother mentioned during the investigations that the detained suspect, Haitham, is "innocent." He stated that Haitham left the salon as soon as he learned of what happened, only to be surprised by his quick arrest for merely wearing a black shirt similar to the killer's attire. They emphasized that they have not heard anything about him since his arrest, noting that he has been transferred between several prisons.
