Iraq
Martial Arts for journalists working in IraqPosted Oct 20 2007
On Sept. 23, Iraqi broadcast journalist Jawad al-Daami, of the satellite TV station Al-Baghdadiya, was shot dead in Baghdad. Three days earlier, on Sept. 20, Muhannad Ghanem Ahmed, of radio Dar Al Salam was gunned down near a mosque in the Muharibin suburb in the northern city of Mosul.
In the face of dangerous working conditions, the Iraqi Journalists Union wants to give martial arts and survival courses to help its members cope with the situation, the Associated Press reported.
The courses will also teach photographers and TV crews how to lower their profile and hide their equipment when traveling. “We feel that it's our duty to protect the remaining Iraqi journalists who are constantly facing the danger of assassination and kidnapping,” said union leader Shihab al-Timimi to The Associated Press. The courses will be held in Baghdad, Basra in the south and Irbil in the north. According to Reporters Without Border, 203 media workers have been killed and 83 kidnapped, since the Iraq fighting began more than four years ago. 14 of the kidnapped are still being held.