Iraq says arrests killers of Iraqiya TV editor

BAGHDAD, Mar 18 (Reuters) Six suspects in the killing of an editor of the Iraqiya state television channel and his driver have been arrested, Iraq's defence minister said today.

Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi said the Iraqi army detained the six in connection with the shooting of Amjad Hameed and his driver in Baghdad a week ago.

He did not say where or when the arrests took place.

In the past 10 days, suspected insurgents have murdered three Iraqi journalists and one media support worker, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.

The violence raised the death toll to 67 journalists and 24 media support workers killed since the war began on March 20, 2003.

Earlier this week, an Iraqi militant group affiliated to al Qaeda said it was behind Hameed's killing.

''Your brothers in the military wing of the Mujahideen Council assassinated on Saturday Amjad Hameed, the editor of Iraqiya ... which always broadcasts lies about jihad (holy war) to satisfy crusader masters,'' said a statement posted on the Internet and attributed to the group.

It said the station was ''the mouthpiece of the apostate government''.

Iraqiya's editorial stance is close to the Shi'ite-led government.

Gunmen assassinated Hameed along with his driver as they headed to work in Baghdad. Iraqiya said Hameed, a father of three, had just left his house in central Baghdad when a car blocked his way and gunmen shot him in the head.

REUTERS CH BS2140