Kurdish regional government criticised for banning reporters from visiting PKK bases

Reporters Without Borders today urged the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq to lift a ban on journalists visiting the bases of the Turkish armed separatist group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It also called for the release of a correspondent of the satellite TV station Kolsat who was arrested yesterday in Mosul, 80 km west of Erbil, the regional capital. “Kurdistan is one of few regions in Iraq where local and foreign journalists can move about freely without constant risk to their lives,” the press freedom organisation said. “This ban is a serious violation of their ability to report on the clashes in Iraq between the PKK's fighters and the Turkish army. The regional government in Erbil and the national government in Baghdad must stop blaming journalists for crises.” The Kurdish regional government yesterday banned journalists from going to meet PKK combatants who have found refuge in the Qandil mountains on the border between Iraq and Turkey. Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Jamal Abdullah said “media reports have led to an acceleration of the crisis with Turkey.” The Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said several journalists were arrested near the Turkish border as a result of the regional government's decision. In a separate development, Fayçal Ghazala, the correspondent of the satellite TV station Kolsat, was arrested yesterday at his home near Mosul by Kurdish security forces and could face charges of “terrorist activity.” He is reportedly being held in the Dohuk police station. The Iraqi news agency Aswat Al-Iraq meanwhile reported that the editor of the weekly Al-Fayçal, Mohammed Mazhar Al-Shaheen Al-Shumari, was freed on 17 November. He was arrested by the US military in October in Tikrit (180 km north of Baghdad) for reasons that are still unknown.