12 May 2006 With seven more media workers killed in Iraq in recent days, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) yet again stressed the indispensable role a free press plays in establishing a democratic country and called for full security for journalists.
"Everything possible must be done to improve their security and ensure that media professionals can carry out their duty to inform," UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement, condemning "crimes targeting the press and aimed at instigating a climate of terror."
It was but the latest in a series of statements he has issued in recent months over attacks on journalists in Iraq, where the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) says 69 journalists and 25 media workers have been killed since 2003.
In the latest deaths, Laith Mashaan, a journalist at Nahrein television, and Muazaz Ahmed, a technician at the same private channel, were kidnapped while returning home to Madaen, south-east of Baghdad. Their bodies were found on the morning of 8 May.
In Basra, Abed Shaker al Demaimi, a photographer for al Jumhureyya, al Qadeseyya and occasionally for Reuters, was killed on 7 May by unidentified assailants. The same day, a bomb attack near the offices of the Al-Sahah newspaper in Baghdad claimed the life of Mohammed Khamaf, who worked in the newspaper’s printshop.
On 5 May, the body of Saad Shammari, a presenter on Al-Iraqiyah television, was discovered and Saud M’Zahim Al-Hedaithi, who worked ar Baghdadiyah TV, was killed. The most recent assassination was that of Ahmed Kadhem, a journalist from al Adaalah, who was found murdered on 10 May in the same area as Mashaan.
UNESCO has a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom, and Mr. Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists around the world.
