The United States has condemned the killing of the Baghdad bureau chief of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq.

Mohammed Bdaiwi Owaid Al-Shammari was shot to death on March 22 following a confrontation with a presidential guard at a checkpoint in Baghdad.

In a written statement on March 24, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called his death "a major loss for the entire country of Iraq."

On March 23, dozens of Iraqi newspapers suspended publication to protest Shammari's killing.

Shammari was shot dead at the gate of the presidential residence in Baghdad’s Jadriyah neighborhood.

Iraqi state television broadcast images of the alleged shooter -- a member of the presidential guard -- in police custody after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the murder scene and ordered his arrest.

Based on reporting by dpa and RFE/RL