Journalist fabricated claim that his family was massacred

Reporters Without Borders is astounded and angry to discover that a journalist's claim that 11 of his close relatives were murdered last weekend is false. Amman-based Iraqi journalist Dia al-Kawwaz had claimed on 26 November that 11 members of his immediate family were shot by gunmen the previous day in Baghdad. “We are obviously relieved to learn that the Kawwaz family is safe and sound but this journalist's behaviour is unacceptable,” the press freedom organisation said. “We are appalled by this deceit, which is not only sordid but also dangerous as it obscures the fact that the families of dozens of journalists have been exposed to violence by Iraq's armed groups.” Reporters Without Borders added: “A great many journalists have had to abandon everything in recent years - their homes and their loved ones - in order to seek refuge abroad. This case must not be allowed to undermine the credibility of the ordeals they describe.” Journalists with Al-Hurra TV met today in Baghdad with members of the Kawwaz family, who denied Dia al-Kawwaz's claims and said he must have done it “to obtain money from abroad.” Many Jordanian dignitaries attended a wake organised by Kawwaz in Amman on 26 November. When Reporters Without Borders contacted Kawwaz today he was evasive about the alleged incident and could not name the relatives who had supposedly been killed. Questioned several times by Agence France-Presse, he was unable to give the exact address of the family home where the massacre allegedly took place or where the victims were supposedly buried. On the website of the online newspaper he edits, Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, he said his family had been “pressured to deny the facts.” Kawwaz's claim had been quickly denied by Iraqi interior ministry spokesman Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf. “It is a lie,” he said. “Nothing of the sort happened. We always investigate murders of this nature.” Another government spokesman said he had contacted Kawwaz's mother in Baghdad. ----------------------------------------------------------- 26.11.2007 Call for probe into murder of 11 close relatives of online newspaper editor Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the murders of 11 close relatives of Dia al-Kawwaz, the Amman-based editor of the online newspaper Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, in an attack on his family home yesterday in Baghdad. Kawwaz recently received telephone threats from Iraqi militia members. “We call on the government to order an investigation to identify those responsible for this carnage and to bring them to justice,” the press freedom organisation said. “The impunity reigning in Baghdad for the past five years encourages attacks on journalists and their families. It is even more disturbing when security forces see what is happening and yet take no action. Police at a security checkpoint near the Kawwaz family home failed to intervene or give chase.” Reporters Without Borders added: “Iraqi journalists are defenceless and powerless in the face of the militias operating in the capital. Like Kawwaz, hundreds of them have sought refuge abroad but the relatives who have remained in Iraq are exposed to reprisals.” According to a report posted on the Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq website, around five gunmen entered the Kawwaz family home in the northeast Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Shaab shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday and shot dead two of Kawwaz's sisters, their husbands and their seven children, aged 5 to 10. They then blew up the house before leaving in a vehicle with no licence plates. Neighbours said police at a nearby post did not intervene. Kawwaz told Reporters Without Borders he recently received telephone threats from members of the Shiite Badr militia that is the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. Aged 46, Kawwaz is known for being very critical of Shiite leaders in the government and of Iranian meddling in Iraqi politics. Created in 2002, Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq is an online newspaper specializing in Iraqi politics. Kawwaz edits it from the Jordanian capital of Amman because of the dangers for journalists working inside Iraq. At least 206 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the US invasion in March 2003. There are also 14 Iraqi journalists of whom there has been no news since they were kidnapped.