Two journalists among dead after bomb in Kirkuk

BAGHDAD, July 17 (Reuters) Two journalists including a Swedish passport holder of Kurdish origin were among 85 people killed by a massive truck bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, their newspaper said today.

Sports reporter Majeed Mohammed, and writer/researcher Mustafa Gaimayani were killed yesterday when the blast damaged the offices of the Hawal Media Institute, its chairman Hashwan Dawoudi said.

Gaimayani had a Swedish passport and his family all live in that country, but he had moved to Kirkuk about five months ago to join the institute, Dawoudi said.

Hawal produces a weekly newspaper from Kirkuk in Kurdish and a sister newspaper in Arabic called Al-Nabaa.

Three Iraqis working for Reuters were killed in Baghdad last week, as well as an Iraqi reporter for the New York Times.

Reporters Without Borders say at least 194 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, making it the most dangerous place in the world to report. The vast majority of the deaths have been Iraqi.

REUTERS PD PM1342