(RSF/IFEX) - With a total of 48 journalists and media assistants killed in cold blood since the start of January, 2006 is already the deadliest year for the Iraqi press since the start of the war in March 2003, Reporters Without Borders said, condemning targeted violence against media.
"Journalists are being attacked more often than Iraqi politicians, who work in the Green Zone where the Parliament, ministries and US embassy are located and who are protected by private security companies," the press freedom organisation said.
"But Iraqi journalists get no protection and have to work with the population, which makes them more vulnerable to attack," RSF continued. "We reiterate our call to the Iraqi authorities to finally guarantee a safer work environment for all media personnel."
Toll of employees killed in attack on new television station rises to 11
The toll of employees left dead by the targeted attack on 12 October, on the new Iraqi television station Al Shaabiya, has risen to 11. The dead include director Abderrahim Nasrallah Al Shumari, deputy director Nawfal Al Shumari, technicians Hussein Ali, Dhakir Hussein Al Shuwaili and Ahmad Shaaban, and head administrator Sami Nasrallah Al Shumari. Five security guards were also killed, while journalists Mishtak Al Maamuri and Mohammed Kazem Al Finiyin are still in critical condition in hospital.
The attack was carried out by masked gunmen who pulled up outside the TV station's new premises at 8 a.m. (local time), shot the security guards outside and then went inside looking for any journalists they could find. One journalist had time to call a colleague and ask him to alert the police. After dialing the emergency number, 130, without success, he got through to an operator on a different emergency number, 104. Despite the urgency, the operator asked him to file a report with the police because, he said, it was impossible to send out a patrol each time an attack took place.
Two Al Irakiya journalists killed, cartoonist shot and wounded
Raid Qais Al Shammari, a journalist working for the television station Al Irakiya and the radio station Sawt Al Irak, was shot dead at the wheel of his car on 13 October in the Baghdad district of Al Dora. Another Al Irakiya journalist, Ali Halil, was murdered by gunmen on 16 October 2006 in the Baghdad district of Al Hurriye.
In a separate incident, Dhiaa Al Hajjar, a cartoonist working for the newspaper "Al Sabah", was shot and wounded by gunmen in Baghdad on 13 October. His condition is reported to be stable.
The television station Al Irakiya and the daily "Al Sabah" are part of the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), which was created by the coalition forces after they had taken Baghdad in 2003. Many journalists working for these media have received letters warning they will be killed if they do not give up their jobs.
Journalist freed by kidnappers
RSF has just learned that Ali Karim, the editor of the weekly "Nadb Al Shabab", was released on 11 October after his family paid a ransom of US$30,000 Karim was tortured for three days and still has burns on his hands and back.
A total of 123 journalists and media assistants have been killed and 51 have been kidnapped since the start of the war in 2003. Four of the kidnap victims are still being held hostage.
