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Brussels - Three years since US and British forces invaded Iraq, the war is exacting a terrible toll on Iraqi journalists struggling to build a free press pillar for the fledgling democracy. According to figures compiled by the International News Safety Institute on the anniversary of the start of the conflict, 110 journalists and critical support staff have died in the worst killing field for the news media in modern times. A total of 84 were Iraqi - most of them apparently murdered because of their work. The shift in the pattern of the war from invasion phase in 2003 to internecine conflict is reflected in the Iraqi death toll. Most of the 23 journalists killed in the first year were international, as they covered a largely conventional war. Since then the Iraqi news media death toll has rocketed as the civil conflict has grown and insurgents have turned their attention on locals trying to exercise a degree of press freedom -- 36 Iraqis out of a total of 42 news media deaths in 2004, 35 out of 36 in 2005 and 8 out of 9 this year so far. Kidnappings and assassinations -- close-up deliberate killings -- by gunmen or suicide bombers account for 54 per cent of the overall news media death toll, and the vast majority of the Iraqi dead. "We can only speculate why Iraqi journalists, just trying to do their job of covering the news, are being targeted by the gunmen -- whether they are seen as an arm of the occupation or whether their killers simply refuse to accept any concept of a free press. Whatever the reason, Iraqi journalists are dying in terrible numbers as they try to take advantage of press freedom for the first time after years of suppression by Saddam Hussein," said INSI Director Rodney Pinder. "This not only deprives Iraqis of news of their own country. Let us not forget the eyes of the world in Iraq also would be blinded if these brave Iraqis were forced to stop work. The foreign media, largely confined to secured areas, depend on Iraqi reporters, cameramen, translators and others. "That the Iraqis keep going is a testament to their incredible bravery and dedication to the ideal of press freedom. They are determined to prevent the truth from being a casualty of this war." US forces are the second biggest cause of news media deaths after the insurgents. They have been involved in 16 deaths. There is no direct evidence that they deliberately targeted journalists because of their work, and American officials consistently deny that is the case. But the refusal of US authorities to hold open inquiries and provide full accounts of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of journalists, if only to help prevent future "accidents", fuels speculation. Journalists from 16 countries have died in Iraq since the war began on 19 March 2003. In addition to Iraq, they were from Algeria, Australia (2), Argentine (2), France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan (2), Lebanon, Palestine (3), Poland, Spain (2), Ukraine, UK (3) and US (4). Insurgent gunmen and bombers accounted for a total of 74 deaths, not all of them apparently targeted. Nine died in crossfire, nine from accidents or health problems and two from entirely undetermined causes. A total of 56 news media staff, including 12 women, have been kidnapped, and 16 of them killed. Three journalists -- Jill Carroll of the Christian Science Monitor and two Iraqis, Rim Zeid and Marwan Khazaal of Sumariya TV -- are still held. Carroll was kidnapped on January 7 and the other two on 1 February. INSI urges all journalists covering this conflict, or considering going to Iraq, to seek professional safety training. INSI has now provided basic safety training free of charge to 118 Iraqi news staff, and seeks international funding to maintain the programme. A list of the Iraq war news media dead is on the INSI website http://www.newssafety.com/casualties/index.htm and detail of each incident can be found by clicking on the year. INSI monitors all places where members of the news media are in danger at work, whether from conflict, disaster, disease, hostile regimes or other violent elements. We record all staff and freelance casualties during coverage-related activities -- print, photo and video journalists as well as essential support staff such as drivers, fixers and translators. Our casualty list includes all causes of death, whether deliberate, accidental or health-related. Any comments or queries on this news release should be directed to INSI Director Rodney Pinder, Tel: +44 7734 709 267 or e-mail rodney.pinder@newssafety.com |