Al Hurra journalist escapes second murder attempt

Reporters Without Borders called for an end to the impunity with which journalists are being targeted in Iraq after Omar Mohammed, of US-run Arabic satellite channel al Hurra, escaped a second murder attempt after being ambushed in central Baghdad. Mohammed was fired on by gunmen who had lain in wait for him as he left his office on 11 December. He escaped with a bullet wound to the left leg for which he received hospital treatment. He survived a first murder attempt in 2004, when his house came under a grenade attack. “This journalist was extremely lucky, but he nonetheless remains in serious danger. As a well-known Sunni journalist and working for a US media, he is a target for some extremist groups,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. Mohammed is also a prominent journalist on the local version of the channel, founded in 2005, al Hurra-Iraq, “We once again urge President Jalal Talabani to tackle impunity and send a strong message by opening thorough investigations to find and punish those carrying out attacks on journalists”, the organisation said. Witnesses said that Mohammed's assailants were able to leave the scene of the shooting with no trouble, as police officers in the vicinity apparently did nothing to intervene. At least 94 journalists and 45 media workers have been killed in Iraq since the start of the conflict. Of these 118 have been Iraqi nationals.