By Jon Slattery
The murder of an Iraqi television journalist and his son is the
latest act of a “senseless and merciless” campaign against press
freedom in Iraq, the International Federation of Journalists has
claimed.
The IFJ was responding after gunmen in Basra last week shot dead
Iraqi journalist Abdul Hussein Al-Basri who was working for US-backed
TV channel Al-Hurriya.
The reporter and his son were gunned down as they left their home.
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IFJ
general secretary Aidan Whiten said: “Killing journalists will not
stifle the democratic movement in Iraq. It is the cowardly alternative
to facing up to the truth. It causes needless suffering and prolongs
the pain of the victims of this conflict on all sides.”
Al-Basri
was also the editor of a local newspaper. The network Al- Hurriya was
launched by the US in February last year to compete with
Arabic-language news channels such as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.
“Although
some try to claim that this is a propaganda network, it is one of many
voices trying to tell the Iraqi story in a professional way. It has
every right to exist and its journalists should not be victimised,”
said White.
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“All targeting of journalists is unacceptable and should be condemned by religious and political leaders on all sides.”
More
than 70 journalists and media workers have been killed in Iraq since
the conflict began two years ago. More than half, 47, were local Iraqis.
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