IraqiNews.com correspondent receives press award on mines in Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: IraqiNews.com news agency correspondent, Adel Fakher, received on Monday an award for best journalistic material on landmines in Iraq during a ceremony held in Baghdad. The reporter won the award for an interview he made last year with former environment minister Nermin Othman on statistics of minefields in Iraq and the ministry’s efforts to remove and clear these mines in cooperation with the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). An official ceremony was held on Monday evening to announce the winners of a special competition regarding the best report, interview, photo or Caricature posted in the Iraqi media on landmines in Iraq under the auspice of the Iraqi Mine Clearance Organization (IMCO) and the Iraqi observatory, an electronic newspaper, as well as the Iraqi Association for Defending the Rights of Journalists. “The winners were selected by a specialized jury to give different mass media their appropriate role in the national and humanitarian level in this critical and important field,” president of the Iraqi Association for Defending Rights of Journalists, Ibrahim al-Seraji, said. “Iraq still suffering from more than 25 million mines on its territories, including 10 million in northern Iraq,” chairman of the IMCO, Zahem Jihad Mattar, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “There are around 1200 kilometers planted with mines on the Iraqi-Iranian borders and we will continue our effort to remove them,” he added. SH (TS) 532