Khalid Tariq Al Naib, who was an assistant professor of medical microbiology and vice dean for scientific affairs at the Al Nahrain Medical School in Baghdad, was murdered on 30 March 2007, most likely for sectarian reasons, during the wave of lawlessness and chaos which has engulfed Iraq. He was kidnapped in the front of the gate of the medical school where he worked on the day of his return from a sabbatical in Australia. His body was later found in a street with bullets in his head and marks indicating that he had been beaten brutally.

Khalid was a medical microbiologist and immunologist. His BSc in microbiology in 1987 and his MSc were obtained at the University of Kuwait. His PhD in 2000 from the Al Nahrain Medical School was on the effects intravesical instillation of BCG vaccine on the recurrence of schistosomal and non-schistosomal tumours.

During his academic …