(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Paris, 7 February 2005 Outrage Over Abduction of Italian Journalist The World Association of Newspapers is outraged by the abduction in Iraq of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the Il Manifesto daily, who was kidnapped by armed men as she conducted interviews on 4 […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release:
Paris, 7 February 2005
Outrage Over Abduction of Italian Journalist
The World Association of Newspapers is outraged by the abduction in Iraq of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the Il Manifesto daily, who was kidnapped by armed men as she conducted interviews on 4 February.
The Paris-based WAN, the global association of the world’s press, appealed for her immediate release and called on media to continue focusing attention on the plight of journalists working in Iraq, who have become frequent targets for kidnapping by insurgents.
WAN also renewed its call for the release of French journalist Florence Aubenas, a 43-year-old senior correspondent for the daily newspaper Libération, and her translator, Hussein Hanun al-Saadi, who have not been seen or heard from since they left her Baghdad hotel on 5 January.
“Journalists in Iraq continue to work in an extremely dangerous climate, where almost every work assignment means risking one’s life,” said Kajsa Törnroth, Director of WAN Press Freedom Programmes. “At least 35 journalists have been killed since the war started in March 2003, and at least 23 journalists have been abducted since April 2004. Twenty-one have been released, and we call for the immediate release of our colleagues who are still being held captive.”
According to reports, an Islamist group calling itself the Organisation for Jihad has threatened to kill Ms Sgrena, a 56-year-old veteran Middle East correspondent for the Rome-based Il Manifesto, unless Italy pulls its troops out of Iraq. It said on Monday that her fate would be decided “in the imminent future.”
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 10 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.
