UNESCO condemns killing of Iraqi cameraman

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom on Wednesday condemned the killing of an Iraqi cameraman in a car bombing 80 kilometers west of Baghdad, making him the third journalist to be murdered in the country in less than one month, said the UN news center on its Web site. Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, 27, was driving to the Iraqi capital when a bomb attached to his car exploded in the city of Garma in Anbar province. He had worked as a journalist for 7 years, first as an editor with the weekly Al-Karma, and then as a freelance cameraman for numerous television broadcasters. “He died carrying out his mission as a journalist, in the name of freedom of expression, a basic human right that is a cornerstone of democratic society,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Educational Organization (UNESCO). Jawad is the third journalist to be killed in Iraq in less than one month, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-governmental organization (NGO). “Too many journalists in Iraq have paid with their lives to defend this right and its corollary, press freedom,” Bokova said, calling on authorities to investigate Jawad’s murder and to enhance security conditions for all journalists working in the country. According to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, the Iraqi conflict has been the deadliest arena for journalists to work in since the Second World War. SH (S)/SR 2