(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has strongly condemned the 18 March 2004 attack by armed men on a minibus carrying staff of a coalition forces-funded television station. One journalist and two staff members were killed in the attack, which took place in Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad. At least eight other staff members were injured. The […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has strongly condemned the 18 March 2004 attack by armed men on a minibus carrying staff of a coalition forces-funded television station. One journalist and two staff members were killed in the attack, which took place in Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad. At least eight other staff members were injured. The minibus was transporting employees of the local station Diyala TV.
“The situation is extremely distressing. An alarming number of local journalists are being killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq,” RSF said. “The [attackers] are particularly targeting media outlets set up and supported by the coalition forces. It is utterly unacceptable that civilians, in this case journalists and media workers, should be attacked because they are accused of ‘collaborating’ with the Americans,” the organisation said.
Diyala TV Director Saad Ali identified those killed as journalist Nadia Nasrat, technician Majid Rachid and security guard Mohamad Ahmad.
Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003, the United States (US)-led Coalition Provisional Authority has set up several local television stations across the country.
RSF recalled that on 1 February, between seven and 10 Kurdish journalists were among the approximate 100 people killed in bombings of the offices of the two major Kurdish political parties in Erbil (see IFEX alert of 11 February 2004). The names of the journalists and their media outlets have not been formally identified to date.
In January, the offices of the US-funded daily “Al-Sabah” (“The Morning”) in central Baghdad came under automatic weapons fire and rocket attack on two successive days. Managing editor Ismael Zayer said the station had earlier received several threatening telephone calls.