Press freedom group "extremely worried" by Italian journalist's abduction

Versione italiana Reporters Without Borders said it was "extremely worried" by the abduction today in Baghdad of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena of the daily Il Manifesto and called for immediate expressions of support and concern. "Coming just a month after the disappearance of French journalist Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi interpreter Hussein Hanoun, the kidnapping of Sgrena is further evidence of the danger that journalists permanently face in Iraq," the press freedom organization said. "We call on the kidnappers to immediately release this veteran correspondent of a newspaper that has been covering the suffering of the Iraqi people since the start of the US offensive," Reporters Without Borders said. Voicing its solidarity with her family and newspaper, the organization said action in support of Sgrena should be "immediate and massive." "We should not forget that, in the case of the two Italian humanitarian aid workers, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, and the two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, this kind of international campaign paid off." Reporters Without Borders stressed that Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. At least 31 have been killed and 17 others abducted since the start of the war in March 2003. "For this reason, it is imperative that the foreign media continue to cover the situation there," it added. Sgrena was kidnapped at around 2 p.m. (11:00 GMT) near a Sunni mosque in the Al-Jadriya district, near Baghdad university. She was in a car with her interpreter, and she was on her way to interview a group of refugees from Fallujah. She was in the middle of a conversation with an Italian fellow-journalist by mobile phone when gunmen aboard a minibus fired on her car, forcing it to stop. They drove off with Sgrena but left her fixer (whose identity has not been revealed) and he was able to sound the alarm. He is currently being questioned by the US forces. Both the Iraqi police and the Italian foreign minister confirmed Sgrena's abduction. No group has so far claimed responsibility. Italian interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu said she could have been kidnapped by a Sunni group. Gabriele Polo, one of Il Manifesto's editors, confirmed to Agence France-Presse the news of Sgrena's abduction a few moments after it was broken by the Italian agency Ansa. She said Sgrena had called the newspaper shortly before her abduction to say she was fine. "But five minutes later, her interpreter called us back to say she had been kidnapped near the Al Kastl Sunni mosque in Baghdad." Aged 56, Sgrena is a specialist in the Middle East and Islamic fundamentalism. She has written several books including "Slavery of the veil" (Manifestolibri, 1995) and "Kahina against the caliphs" (Datanews, 1997). She has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and Algeria for Il Manifesto. Several Italians have been kidnapped in Iraq since the start of the war including reporter Enzo Baldoni of the weekly Diario della Settimana, who was kidnapped on 19 August 2004 on the road from Baghdad to Najav. The Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for his execution, which was filmed. The Italian government had refused to comply with its demand for the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq.