UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - European nations on the Security Council plan to ask the 15-member U.N. body this week to take steps to protect journalists working in war zones, diplomats said on Monday.
"Members of the media, acting as the world's witnesses to atrocities and humanitarian needs, alerting all of us to our responsibilities, have ... been increasingly subject to attack," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland told the council on Monday during a briefing on the challenge of protecting civilians in conflict areas.
A draft resolution to be introduced in the council as early as Tuesday would remind governments of their obligation to protect journalists covering armed conflicts or otherwise caught up in war, the diplomats said.
The measure would urge governments to do what they can to prevent crimes against journalists covering conflicts, investigate any crimes that are committed against such journalists, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
France, Britain, Denmark, Greece and Slovakia plan to introduce the draft resolution, the diplomats said.
The war in Iraq has brought into sharp focus the dangers of media coverage of war since the march 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
At least 28 journalists have been killed in Iraq this year, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Since the start of the war, at least 88 journalists have been killed in Iraq, the group said.
Elsewhere around the globe, at least 11 journalists have been killed in conflicts this year, including in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, the group said.
