Iraq: Two Prominent Editors Murdered In Baghdad

Iraq: Two Prominent Editors Murdered In Baghdad

Gunmen boldly murdered an Iraqi editor in Baghdad on 4 March 2007, four days after the body of another editor thought missing was identified in a Baghdad morgue.

Several gunmen in two vehicles attempted to abduct Mohan Hussein al-Dhahir, managing editor of the Baghdad daily "Al-Mashreq", outside his home, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. After a struggle, the gunmen shot al-Dhahir seven times. "Al-Mashreq", a privately owned, widely read Baghdad newspaper that has published commentary critical of the government, has received numerous death threats and demands to stop publishing.

On 28 February, a body was identified as Jamal al-Zubaidi, 56, an economics editor for the Baghdad-based dailies "As-Saffir" and "Al-Dustour" who had written articles criticising government spending. Al-Zubaidi's son said police had found the body with gunshot wounds to the head four days earlier. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Al-Zubaidi¸ a member of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, an IFJ affiliate, had been severely wounded in a previous shooting attack.

CPJ said at least 95 journalists and 37 media support staffers, most of them Iraqi, have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, making Iraq the deadliest conflict for the press in recent history. The IFJ said the latest killings bring the Iraq tally for 2007 to 15.

ENDS

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