Top UN official calls for improving safety for Iraqi journalists after recent attack
“Such indiscriminate killings are contrary to every law,” Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said in a news release issued today.
Haider Hashim, a correspondent for private TV broadcaster Al-Baghdadia, and cameraman Suhaib Adnan were among the victims of the 10 March attack. Ibrahim al-Katib, a reporter for Iraqi state television, Iraqia TV, was gravely wounded.
“I must, once again, urge the authorities to improve the safety of journalists, a profession of brave women and men whose work is important for society as a whole as it seeks to restore democracy and rule of law. The toll paid by the profession in Iraq is shocking,” the Director-General stated.
The attack brings to 295 the number of Iraqi journalists killed in the country since April 2003, according to the Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate.