Baghdad TV presenter killed by gunmen: CPJ

New York, Mar 10: A television presenter with Baghdad TV, Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while driving from the Iraqi capital, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

The New York-based group said it condemned the killing of the 35-year-old presenter, noting Baghdad TV has been threatened and shelled by insurgents.

CPJ reported that Baghdad TV Deputy Director Thaer Ahmad said gunmen shot al-Khaldi dead as he was driving from Baghdad on Tuesday with three passengers to interview poets in the northern city of Mosul for his educational and cultural show.

The gunmen stopped the car and shot al-Khaldi three times.

They also killed one passenger and injured the two others.

''We are saddened by the killing of Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi,'' CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said in a statement. ''He is the fifth journalist to be killed in Iraq this year, which shows the appalling danger journalists face daily when trying to work.'' On March 1, Baghdad TV came under insurgent artillery fire, according to Ahmad, adding that four employees were injured in the attack.

Baghdad TV is owned by the Iraqi Islamic Party, the biggest Sunni political group. In the last year two correspondents for the station have been shot and killed by US forces.

At least 65 journalists and 23 media workers have been killed in Iraq since March 2003, making it the deadliest conflict for the media in recent history, according to CPJ.

A cameraman working for Reuters, Dhia Najim, was shot dead during fighting between US Marines and insurgents on November 1 last year. The exact circumstances of his killing have never been clarified despite requests to the US military from Reuters.

Many journalists have also been taken hostage; some have been killed by their abductors but most have been released unharmed. American journalist Jill Carroll was kidnapped in Baghdad on January 7 and is still missing.

Reuters