Attacks on Journalists Continue in Baghdad

Attacks on Journalists Continue in Baghdad

A radio announcer was shot dead on his way to work, and a TV reporter
was abducted. Some fear a militia campaign against the media.

By Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed
LOS ANGELES TIMES

BAGHDAD: Gunmen killed a radio journalist and kidnapped a television
reporter, Iraqi police said Saturday, continuing a spate of attacks
that has killed 14 media employees in recent weeks.

Hussam Ahmed, a correspondent for the independent TV station Nahrain,
was forced from his car at gunpoint Saturday, police said. The gunmen took
him away in another car. There has been no communication from the
kidnappers.

Police also reported that another journalist, announcer Raid Qais of
Voice of Iraq radio, was shot while driving to work in the Dora neighborhood
of south Baghdad on Friday. Qais died instantly, police said.

Three other journalists recently have been kidnapped or killed in
roadside attacks, and 11 employees of a television station were killed by gunmen
Thursday. A convoy of armed men, some wearing police uniforms, invaded
the Al Shaabiya satellite television station and opened fire at executives,
technicians and guards. General manager Abdul Raheem Nasrallah was
among those killed.

The attacks are raising concern that the groups responsible for Iraq's
sectarian bloodletting are turning their attention to the news media.

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