TV producer shot dead in Mosul is 61st journalist killed since start of war

Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage at the abduction and killing today in the northern city of Mosul of Khaled Sabih Al Attar, a producer with the Iraqi public TV station Al-Irakiya, and called on the Iraqi and US authorities to investigate the case. "This is the ninth murder of a journalist in Mosul, making it Iraq's most dangerous city for the press after Baghdad," the press freedom organisation said, noting that, with three journalists killed in less than a week, the news media have now become a favourite target. "Despite the continuing tragedy, we would like to reaffirm our commitment to the journalists working in Iraq," the organisation added. The head of Al Irakiya told Agence-France Presse that Attar was kidnapped "shortly before Friday prayers in the north of the city and his body was found a few hours later on an empty lot on the west side." He had been shot to death. Aged 43, he worked for a satirical programme called "I don't give damn" which made fun of the carelessness of staff in government offices. Al Irakiya's headquarters has been the target of several attacks. Attar's death brings to 61 the number of journalists and media assistants killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003.