The freedom of the press in post-invasion Iraq is reportedly at its worse with reporters, particularly Iraqis, and even ordinary Iraqis who speak to them being targeted.

There isn’t journalistic freedom in our country," Khalil Mustafa, an Iraqi journalist who survived two attempts on his life since last year for writing about tortures practiced by militants, told IslamOnline.net.

The continuous arrests, abductions and murders of journalists in Iraq have undermined the ability of media outlets to report on what happens in the war-ravaged country.

"We have to be careful in each word we write," said Mustafa.

If we write something that isn’t in favour of the militants, resistance groups, the military or the government, then we are in a dangerous situation."

Cameras, recorders and sometimes notebooks have become enough reason to target the owner.

Photographers carrying cameras in Baghdad are an easy target for militants who don’t want coverage in areas where they are in control.

Nine journalists and associates have been killed and five kidnapped in Iraq since the begging of 2008, according to Reporters Without Borders.

On July 21, Soran Mama Hama, a journalist working for a Kurdish magazine, was killed by gunmen in Kirkuk.

A month earlier, Mohieldin Abdul-Hameed, a presenter for Nineveh 's local state-run TV station, was killed in Mosul.

Three of the five abducted journalists have been released after being tortured by militants. Two remain missing and are believe to be dead.

The Iraqi Journalists Association is worried that violence against reporters could erupt again to the same levels of 2004 and 2005 when dozens of journalists were killed and tortured.

It estimates that 246 Iraqi journalists and media workers have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion, while the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says at least 130 journalists and 50 media workers have been killed in this period.

No Protection

Iraqi reporters lament the lack of protection to freely practice their profession.

"For being Iraqis, we are in a more delicate situation because we don’t have anywhere to hide or anyone to support," said Mustafa.

"Sometimes we have to hide behind foreigners to be protected."

Khalid Abdel-Kareem, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Journalists Association, criticized the inaction of the parties concerned.

"Nothing is being done to protect journalists covering the Iraq situation," he told IOL.

"It is becoming intolerable, especially when you see that the proposed democracy is just for politicians but not for other professionals or ordinary Iraqis."

He regretted that while media people are still being targeted in Iraq, those responsible remain "immune."

The CPJ says that more than 80 percent of all media people and associates killed have been Iraqis working for local and international news outlets.

"In addition to being easy targets, to survive we have to accept working as journalists but having our names hidden while foreigners take all the credit by using our stories under their by line," said Fariz Obeidi, an Iraqi journalist working for a foreign media.

"They don’t offer any protection and even if we are killed, our families don’t have the right of insurance as they have."

Those lacking protection are not only reporters, but ordinary Iraqis they interview.

In some districts of the capital Baghdad, for example, militants have distributed leaflets prohibiting locals from talking to reporters, threatening to kill those who do not comply.

Three ordinary Iraqis in the Gazelia and Dora districts of Baghdad have been killed by militants this month alone after giving interviews to journalists.

"My son was killed for speaking with a journalist about US elections," said the victim’s father, a resident of Gazelia, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.

"They made him two questions and it was enough reason for them to kill him. He wasn’t aware of the new law imposed in our district and was a victim of the daily violence in Iraq where democracy is just an illusion."

HEYET Net- IOL