Alarm over disappearance of three Romanian journalists

Reporters Without Borders today said it was "extremely concerned" about the disappearance and probable abduction of three Romanian journalists yesterday in a suburb of Baghdad. "Reports of disappearances or kidnapping in Iraq must be taken very seriously," the press freedom organization said. "Experience shows that all journalists, whatever their nationality, can be targeted in this manner. When it happens, support and action is vital in the first few days. We are therefore losing no time in calling on the Romanian, European, US and Iraqi authorities to do everything possible to find these journalists quickly." Reporters Without Borders said at least 17 journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003. Florence Aubenas of the French daily newspaper Libération and her Iraqi guide and interpreter, Hussein Hanoun, have been detained for the past 83 days. Reporter Marie-Jeanne Ion and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci of the Romanian television station Prima TV and Eduard Ovidiu Ohanesian of the privately-owned daily Romania Libera disappeared yesterday, five days after arriving in Iraq. Their Iraqi guide, a businessman who normally works in Romania, is also missing. Prima TV said they received a call from Ion at the moment that she and her colleagues were being kidnapped. They said they thought "she was trying to explain to the kidnappers that it would be useless to do this as they were just Romanian journalists who did not have money for any ransom." The conversation between the TV crew and the militants was conducted partly in English and partly in Arabic, Prima TV said in a statement. "Marie-Jeanne also tried to let us know in Romanian that they had been kidnapped and that we should immediately alert the Romanian embassy in Baghdad. We also managed to understand that they were in a car heading towards Al Hamiryah." The independent news agency Mediafax reported that, a few minutes after this call, Ion sent a telephone text message that said: "We have been kidnapped. It is not a joke. Help us." Romanian foreign minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu said he was analysing the reports about the three journalists' "possible disappearance" in Iraq. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said "the three journalists have been reported missing in an area known more for criminal activity than kidnappings." He did not specify what area he was referring to. A crisis unit was immediately formed in Romania by representatives of the president's office, foreign ministry and secret services. No new developments were immediately expected and no ransom demand has so far been received by the authorities. The apparent kidnapping took place shortly after the three journalists met with members of the Romanian embassy. They had interviewed Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and were due to interview President Ghazi al-Yawar. The day before, on 27 March, Romanian President Traian Basescu had visited the Romanian troops who are part of the multi-national coalition. He had announced that Romania did not plan to reduce its troops and would continue to participate in the reconstruction and stabilization of Iraq. Referring to the journalists' disappearance on his return to Romanian, Basescu said, "all state structures are on alert and are determined to solve this problem." He also said the secret services of allied countries had been informed.