Reporters Without Borders goes to Baghdad to give financial help to murdered journalists' families

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard is in Baghdad to give financial help to the families of murdered journalists. “We have already helped about 20 families in Kurdistan and now it is the turn of 57 families in the rest of Iraq,” Ménard said at a news conference there yesterday. “We will do the same for other families in the future,” he added. Ménard said he met with President Jalal Talabani, and urged the authorities to go after those responsible for the murders of journalists and to adopt legislation that would promote press freedom. He also referred at the news conference to the eight Iraqi journalists currently held by the Iraqi security forces and the US army. “They are detained on suspicion of links with terrorists without anyone producing evidence and without being brought to trial,” he said. Ménard added: “We are still without any news of 12 Iraqi journalists who were taken hostage, and this disturbs us as much as when it is French, Italian, Romanian, American or British journalists.”