(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced alarm over a new wave of kidnappings in Iraq after Raeda Wazzan, an anchor for the local public television Iraqiya, was kidnapped on 20 February 2005 in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad. Wazzan is thought to have been abducted with her 10-year-old son. “With four journalists abducted in less […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced alarm over a new wave of kidnappings in Iraq after Raeda Wazzan, an anchor for the local public television Iraqiya, was kidnapped on 20 February 2005 in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad. Wazzan is thought to have been abducted with her 10-year-old son.
“With four journalists abducted in less than two weeks and one abortive kidnapping attempt, it is becoming increasingly difficult for both Iraqi and foreign journalists to work in Iraq, especially when they try to report in the field,” RSF said.
“Under no circumstances should journalists be used as bargaining chips. We call on all sides – the foreign and Iraqi armies and the armed groups – to respect the members of the press as neutral observers of the conflict,” the organisation added.
Wazzan is the 21st journalist to be kidnapped in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Four other journalists have gone missing.
Aged 36, Wazzan is the only female anchor at Iraqiya, which covers the province of Nineveh and its capital, Mosul. She and her son were travelling in a car that was intercepted by gunmen. Her abductors have so far made no public statement.
Iraqiya producer Jamal Badrani narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt in Mosul about a week ago. The headquarters of the television station has been the target of several attacks, the most recent on 16 February when six mortar shells were fired at the building, injuring three technicians.
