BRUSSELS, 19 October - If Guardian reporter Rory Carroll is confirmed kidnapped, he will be the 37th news media staffer seized by armed men in Iraq.

Rory Carroll, 33, was on assignment earlier today when he went missing. The Guardian said It is believed he may have been taken by a group of armed men.

According to INSI records 36 journalists and support workers were kidnapped in 2004 and so far this year.

Thirty were eventually freed, but six were murdered.

The kidnap victims came from Iraq (9), France (5), USA (4), Romania (3), Indonesia (2), UK (2), Japan (2), Czech Republic (2), Italy (2) and Spain, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Turkey.

If confirmed, Carroll would be the first from Ireland.

The slain journalists came from Iraq, Italy and the United States.

INSI counts 88 journalists and support staff dead since the beginning of the Iraq war. The majority of those who have died, including those murdered in captivity, were Iraqis.

International News Safety Institute, 19 October 2005

Further information:

Rodney Pinder, Director: + 44 7734 70 92 67

Sarah de Jong, Deputy Director: + 32 2 235 22 01 / + 32 497 707 685