Middle East & North Africa

  

Iraqi officials may have detained Newsday journalistsCPJ continues to monitor reports of missing members of the media

New York, March 30, 2003—Newsday correspondent Matthew McAllester and photographer Moises Saman may have been detained by Iraqi authorities, said editors at the U.S.-based daily. McAllester and Saman were last seen in Baghdad on March 24. Meanwhile, four other journalists remain missing. Johan Rydeng Spanner, a free-lance photographer with the Danish daily Jyllands Posten, and…

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CPJ sends letter to Rumsfeld about U.S. bombing of Iraqi TV

New York, March 28, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter today to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld requesting information about the U.S. bombing of Iraqi state television facilities in Baghdad earlier this week. The group expressed concern that the Pentagon may have violated international humanitarian law in targeting these facilities…

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CPJ investigating bombing of Iraqi television facility

New York, March 26, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is currently investigating the U.S. and coalition forces’ bombing last night (U.S. time) of Iraqi state-run television facilities. According to The Associated Press (AP), last night’s attack knocked Iraq’s 24-hour satellite channel, which broadcasts outside the country, off the air for eight hours. Domestic television…

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Group of journalists missing in BaghdadAl-Jazeera barred from Nasdaq

New York, March 26, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the safety of a group of at least three journalists in Baghdad who have reportedly been expelled from the country. Newsday reporter Matt McAllester and photographer Moises Saman were last heard from Monday evening. Molly Bingham, a freelance photographer, is also missing.…

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Al-Jazeera correspondents’ credentials revoked

New York, March 25, 2003—The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has revoked the credentials of two reporters from the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera. According to NYSE spokesman Ray Pellecchia, the press accreditation of Al-Jazeera’s Ammar Shankari and his colleague Ramzi Shiber was canceled on Monday, March 24. Pellecchia said the decision was an effort to…

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Croatian journalist expelled

New York, March 24, 2003— Iraqi officials expelled a Croatian free-lance journalist from Baghdad yesterday after he conducted a live interview with CNN, which was banished from Iraq last week. Robert Valdec, who had been in Baghdad for three weeks reporting for the Croatian Commercial Network, the Serbian Independent Network, the Bosnian Independent Network, and…

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ITN correspondent confirmed deadTwo other crew members missing

New York, March 23, 2003— Veteran ITV News correspondent Terry Lloyd, who disappeared in southern Iraq yesterday, is dead, according to the British television network ITN, which produces ITV News. “There is now sufficient evidence to believe that ITV News Correspondent Terry Lloyd, 50, was killed in an incident on the Southern Iraq war front…

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Journalist killed in northern IraqOther journalists missing, detained as hostilities intensify

New York, March 22, 2003— An Australian journalist was killed, and several British journalists disappeared today while covering escalating hostilities in Iraq. Free-lance Australian cameraman Paul Moran, who was on assignment for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was killed today in an apparent suicide bombing when a man detonated a car at a checkpoint in…

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CNN crew expelled

New York, March 21, 2003— Iraqi officials today expelled the U.S. news network CNN from the capital, Baghdad. Correspondents Nic Robertson and Rym Barhimi, as well as a producer and cameraman, were ordered to leave the country and will depart this evening for Jordan, CPJ sources confirmed. CNN has not yet released a comment about…

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CPJ concerned about possible shielding

New York, March 20, 2003— International journalists evacuated the Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad this morning after receiving reports that the hotel was a likely target of a U.S. air strike. One journalist received a phone call from a Western government official warning journalists to leave the hotel immediately. At least one U.S. media outlet was…

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