Journalist Killed in Bangladesh Hill District
US Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq Freed
Iraqi Militants Threaten to Kill US Journalist
US Troops Arrest Journalist in Iraq
Iraqi Journalist Killed in Fallujah
Communist Rebels Kill Journalist in Nepal
Journalist Killed in Bangladesh Hill District
DHAKA, Aug 23 – A journalist of the Bengali-language Ajker Kagoj newspaper had been kidnapped and killed by masked gunmen in Bangladesh's southeastern Khagrachari hill district, newspapers reported here Monday.
A group of armed youths kidnapped Kamal Hossain, the Khagrachari district correspondent of the paper and general secretary of local press club, from his home Saturday midnight breaking open the door.
Police recovered his body from nearby Khantamara area the following morning.
Kamal's family said he took shelter at the false ceiling of his home sensing attack by the miscreants, but could not save himself.
No reason for the killing could be known immediately. Journal Report
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US Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq Freed
BAGHDAD, Iraq Aug. 22 - US journalist Micah Garen, kidnapped in Iraq nearly two weeks ago, was released today in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Garen was interviewed by telephone by the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television moments after an aide to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the American journalist had been released.
Garen and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doushi, were walking through a market in Nasiriyah on Aug. 13 when two armed men in civilian clothes abducted them, police said.
Garen said Sunday he had been taking pictures with a small camera when a misunderstanding happened with people who did not approve, he said without giving further details.
On Thursday, the kidnappers released a video of Garen surrounded by armed, masked gunmen and threatened to kill him unless U.S. troops pull out from Najaf within 48 hours.
Al-Sadr's representatives condemned the kidnapping, and al-Sadr aide Sheik Awas al-Khafaji had been working to get Garen freed.
Garen worked for Four Corners media, identified on its Web site as a documentary organization working in still photography, video and print media.
He has taken photographs as a stringer for The Associated Press and had a story published in The New York Times. His photographs also have appeared in US News & World Report. Journal Desk
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Iraqi Militants Threaten to Kill US Journalist
BAGHDAD, Aug 19 - The Iraqi militants who abducted an American journalist have threatened to kill him unless US forces pull out of Najaf.
In a video broadcast on Aljazeera on Thursday, the group calling itself Martyrs Brigades said they would kill their captive Micah Garen if US forces did not leave Najaf within 48 hours.
"A group calling itself the Martyrs Brigades said they are holding the American journalist Micah Garen. The group threatened to kill the hostage after 48 hours if US forces do not withdraw from Najaf," Aljazeera reported.
The video showed several gunmen surrounding a kneeling captive, thought to be Garen.
The journalist had been seized off the streets of the southern city of Nasiriyah on Friday along with his Iraqi translator. Garen works for New York-based media production company Four Corners Media.
Iraqi groups fighting the occupation have in recent months seized several foreigners suspected of collaborating with the US-led forces.
Though some were released, nine have been killed. Journal Desk
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US Troops Arrest Journalist in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug 18 - US occupation forces have arrested an Agence-France Presse (AFP) journalist in the Iraqi town of Tikrit.
The reasons for Ahmad Nuri's arrest Wednesday were not immediately clear.
Many journalists in Iraq, including several Aljazeera reporters and cameramen, have been detained in the past by occupation troops or police and then released without charge or apology.
Iraqi journalists have been particularly vulnerable to detention by foreign occupation forces or the interim government.
Reporters covering the unrest in Iraq have come under renewed pressure in recent days. Journal Desk
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Iraqi Journalist Killed in Fallujah
BAGHDAD, Aug 18 - An Iraqi freelance journalist working for Germany's ZDF television network has been killed in the troubled city of Fallujah, the network said today.
Mahmud Hamid Abbas, 32, had gone to the city on Sunday to film when he was killed in unexplained circumstances, it said.
The media watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) said the journalist was killed as he was leaving his native Fallujah for Baghdad. Journal Desk
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Communist Rebels Kill Journalist in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Aug 17 - A Nepalese journalist had been killed by communist rebels weeks after they kidnapped him in the country's mountainous western district, a media rights group said today.
The rebels posted a notice at Dekendra Thapa's Narayan village in Dailekh district, about 500km west of Kathmandu, saying they had killed the journalist for spying on the rebel group.
Thapa, who worked for the state-run Radio Nepal, was abducted by the rebels in June, said Bishnu Nisthuri of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, the umbrella body of media rights groups.
"We strongly condemn the killing of the journalist. We were negotiating his release with the rebels when he was killed," Mr Nisthuri said.
He is believed to have been killed on August 11. His body has not been recovered.
The federation secured the release of another journalist in the same district this week, whom the rebels had seized and also accused of spying.
The district has been one of the most difficult areas in the Himalayan nation for journalists to work.
At least four journalists have been killed by the rebels in the past three years and four others by government troops.
The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state. More than 9,500 people have been killed since the insurgency began.
Harassment of journalists has increased since the collapse of a ceasefire between the rebels and government forces in August last year.
Government troops also routinely detain journalists for quizzing without warrants.
The government says it only detains those who collude with the rebels, but journalists who have merely written about the rebels or have contacts in the movement have also been arrested. Journal Report
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Copyright © 2004 Third World Media Journal
A Quarterly Publication of Third World Media Network (TWMN)
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