US news agency AP says cameraman killed in Iraq

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) An Iraqi cameraman working for the Associated Press was shot and killed in Baghdad the US news organization said.

Saif M Fakhry, 26, was shot twice while walking to a mosque near his home on his day off, the agency said in a statement yesterday, adding that he was the fifth Associated Press (AP) employee to die violently during the Iraq war.

''Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Saif's wife and family and his colleagues in Iraq,'' said Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive officer. ''This is a particularly dangerous time in a place that already is unimaginably dangerous.'' ''Saif's death reminds us again of the risks and hardships that accompany vital frontline journalism and of the gratitude we all owe to those who do it,'' he said.

Fakhry had worked for AP Television News since August 2004 and is survived by his wife, who is due to give birth to their first child next month, the organization said.

Gunmen had been involved in fighting in the area around Fakhry's home for two days, but it was not clear who fired the shots that killed him, AP said.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has said a total of 104 journalists have been killed on duty in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Another 39 media support workers have been killed, it said.

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