INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST KILLED IN KERKUK

Kurdish journalist killed in Iraq
The Associated Press

Tue, Jul 22, 2008 (1:54 a.m.)

Iraqi police say gunmen have killed a Kurdish journalist near the northern city of Kerkuk.
Soran Mama Hama, a 23-year-old reporter for the Kurdish-language magazine Leven, was shot late Monday. Police say the motive is unknown.

But the head of a local journalists' union blames the killing on gangs trying to silence reporters who want to expose corruption. Latif Satih Faraj calls the killing a "criminal act" aimed at halting "the free speech of independent journalists in Kerkuk."

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 129 journalists and 50 media support workers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003, not including the most recent death.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jul/22/kurdish-journalist-killed-in-iraq/