Iraq radio station stormed, 1 dead -US media group

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) Dozens of heavily armed gunmen stormed an independent radio station in Baghdad today, killing a guard, destroying equipment and knocking the station off the air, a US-based media watchdog said.

Karim Yousef, the acting director-general of Radio Dijla in the Al-Jamia district, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that two other guards were wounded during the attack about 2.30 p.m.

local time.

Yousef said the gunmen seized the first floor of the building and that the 25 employees of the station fled to the second floor. The gunmen set off an explosive, destroying broadcast equipment and then fled before Iraqi security forces arrived.

''As horrific as this assault is, attacks on Iraqi journalists happen regularly. This attack underscores the unending dangers for the press in Iraq,'' CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement.

Yousef told CPJ that gunmen earlier today attempted to abduct four of the station's employees who were on their way to work.

''We don't belong to any political or sectarian sides and we accept all Iraqi voices,'' Yousef told CPJ. ''We asked the government several times to protect the road, to protect the station, but unfortunately to no avail.'' CPJ said it was not the first time Radio Dijla had been targeted.

In March, two employees were abducted as they were on their way to work and are still missing. In December, gunmen killed another employee shortly after he left his home, and a former broadcaster for the station was abducted in September.

REUTERS PBB BST0400