Another death in Mosul brings number of journalists killed since 2003 to 72

The death of a journalist with Iraqi radio station Radio Nineveh at the hands of gunmen in Mosul (390 km north of Baghdad) late on 21 September brings the number of journalists and media assistants killed since the start of the war in Iraq to 72, Reporters Without Borders said today. The press freedom organisation also stressed that the correspondent of the TV station Al-Arabiya in Ramadi, Hameed Majeed, has been held for eight days without any explanation being given by the authorities. At the same time, Reuters cameraman Ali Omar Abrahem Al-Mashadani has been held by the US army in Abu Ghraib prison since 8 August. A secret tribunal consisting of Iraqi government officials and US army officers ordered him to be detained for 180 days, without being allowed visits from his lawyers, family or employers for the first 60 days. It is not known what he is accused of doing. At least eight journalists are still being held by the US army in Iraq. _________________________________________________________________________ 21.09.2005 Two murders in Mosul bring total of journalists killed in Iraq since 2003 to 71 Reporters Without Borders today condemned the murders of two journalists with the Iraqi daily Al-Safir, Firas Al-Maadhidi and Hind Ismail, in the past 24 hours in Mosul, 370 km north of Baghdad. “Journalists continue to be preferred targets in Iraq,” the press freedom organisation said. “Two have been killed in the space of just 24 hours in Mosul, which has become the second most dangerous city for the press in Iraq. We reiterate our requests to the Iraqi authorities and coalition forces to carry out rapid and thorough investigations.” The head of Al-Safir's bureau in Mosul, Al-Maadhidi was gunned down by two men outside his home in the An-Nur section of the city today. Ismail, a woman reporter who worked for Al-Maadhidi, was gunned down yesterday in the city centre by men wearing police uniforms. A media worker, Sabah Mohssin, who was a driver for the Iraqi TV station Al-Irakiya, was meanwhile killed on 17 September. These deaths bring the total of journalists and media assistants killed since the start of the war in March 2003 to 71, and the total killed so far this year to 22. Hameed Majeed, a correspondent for the Al-Arabiya TV station in Ramadi, has meanwhile been held by the coalition forces for the past six days. The war in Iraq is the deadliest for journalists since the end of World War II. The Vietnam war, which lasted from 1955 to 1975, saw the death of a total of 63 journalists. Two TV cameramen are also missing in Iraq: Frédéric Nérac of Britain's ITV News, missing since 22 March 2003, and Isam Hadi Muhsin Al-Shumary of Germany's Suedostmedia, missing since 15 August 2004.