Iraq / Middle East & North Africa

Editor’s note: The original text of this alert was modified to correct Ibrahim Al-Saraj’s professional affiliation. New York, May 5, 2008–Unidentified gunmen shot and killed an Iraqi journalist in Mosul on Sunday after she resisted their attempt to kidnap her. The journalist, Sarwa Abdul-Wahab, and her mother were walking back from a nearby market to…

Iraqi Kurdish political leaders have cultivated an image of freedom and tolerance, but that increasingly clashes with reality. As the independent press has grown more assertive, attacks and arrests have increased.

Joel Campagna: The backstory of this report

May 2008 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ’s Impunity Index ranks countries where killers of journalists go free New York, April 30, 2008 — Democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines are among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists’ killers according to the Impunity Index, a list of countries compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists…

IRAQ: New York, April 16, 2008—Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein was freed today from U.S. custody in Iraq, ending a two-year ordeal in which he fended off unsubstantiated accusations from the U.S. military that he collaborated with Iraqi insurgents. The AP reported that Hussein was “handed over to AP colleagues on Wednesday in Baghdad.”

CPJ welcomes release of CBS journalist in Basra               New York, April 14, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of CBS News journalist Richard Butler, who was freed in southern Iraq today after two months in captivity. Butler, a producer and photographer on assignment for CBS’ news magazine 60 Minutes was freed unharmed…

New York, April 9, 2008—The Committee Protect Journalists welcomes an Iraqi judicial committee’s decision to drop legal proceedings against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been held by U.S. authorities for two years on allegations shrouded in secrecy. The committee ordered that Hussein be freed “immediately” if no other charges were pending, AP reported today.…

New York, April 7, 2008—Five years after a series of U.S. military strikes against media outlets in Baghdad killed three journalists, CPJ calls on the U.S. military to fully investigate the incidents and make its findings public. CPJ also calls on the U.S. military to implement procedures to address the presence of journalists on the…

Jehad Nga, freelance photographer On arriving at the beginning of the war When we arrived in Baghdad, as you can imagine, Baghdad was basically ablaze. The Americans had created a safety zone around the Palestine Hotel; otherwise the city was in a state of anarchy. As you can imagine, every journalist on the face of…