2 Iraqi journalists shot dead, intel officer wounded

Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, especially those from the country, who are far more exposed to attacks than their foreign counterparts.

The murders came as a suicide bomber killed four police and wounded a top intelligence officer elsewhere in the province, a day after other bombings claimed 20 lives.

"Armed militias assassinated correspondent Saif Tallal and his cameraman Hassan al-Anbaki near Baquba," the capital of Diyala province, a Sharqiya news presenter said on the air.

The journalists were killed while returning to Baquba from a reporting trip with Staff Lieutenant General Mizher al-Azzawi, the head of security command responsible for the province, the channel said.
Minas al-Suhail, a colleague from the channel, told AFP that the two journalists were driving some distance behind the commander's convoy on their way back from covering violence in the Muqdadiyah area.

Masked militiamen in three SUVs stopped their vehicle in the village of Abu Saida, took the journalists out and shot them dead with Kalashnikov assault rifles, Suhail said.

Shiite militia groups, some of which have been repeatedly accused of serious abuses, wield huge influence in the eastern province of Diyala.

Sharqiya is a Sunni-owned TV channel viewed as sympathetic to the country's Sunni Arab minority.

The murders took place within sight of a police checkpoint, but the police did not intervene, Suhail said.
Source :AFP