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N: 61 journalists and 23 media workers, local translators, drivers, were killed in Iraq since the US invasion over the last three years. 70% of them were deliberately murdered because of their journalistic activity.
CPJ executive director Ann Cooper said, that in the history of her organization they have never seen worse conditions for journalists' work.
A Cooper: Most of the journalists killed by insurgents and most of these killings were murders. On other words, the insurgents when after a local Iraqi who is working for the Western media is threaten in advance by insurgents. You work for the Western media, your collaborators, if you do not stop working for them, we will kill you. And in some cases they did kill them.
N: Cooper said that CPJ is helpless to stop insurgents from murdering journalists. But they try to save journalists from the fire of the US military.
A Cooper: Of the 61 journalists killed since the conflict began, 14 journalists have been killed by the US fire. In some cases there have been investigation by the US military and those reports have been made public. But there are cases as far as we know there were no investigations.
N: Cooper said that most of the killings by the US fire occurred in the military checkpoints. CPJ has asked the Pentagon to take steps to make checkpoints less dangerous for the press.
A Cooper: They are pretty simple. To make sure that the soldiers at the checkpoint have a sign 'stop" also in Arabic. Putting board-wire out away a bit further, so the car is coming has to slow down further away.
N: German journalist Marcus Bensmann worked in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. Speaking from his present base in Afghanistan he said that situation for journalists in Iraq completely changed since the beginning of the war.
A Bensmann: But now a journalist is not an observer but a target. They can be targeted by insurgents, sometimes can be killed by the Americans.
N: Bensman said that he decided to avoid going to Iraq anymore. As he can control risks in Iraq.
A Bensmann: You can control risks if you are an observer in the battle, but if you are an enemy in the battle, you should leave.
N: It means that journalists can not properly work what is going on in Iraq. As Bensmann said, there are just a few exceptions remaining to cover the war in Iraq.
A Bensmann: The only exception if any freelancers can put themselves in danger and work there. I just spoke to my friend he just left Iraq and said that he sat at the hotel room and was waiting for his stringer to inform them.
N: Bensmann said that the current situation in Iraq can bring the country to the Chechnya scenario, where the murdering and kidnapping of journalists ended the international reporting and turned the country to the black-box.
Ann Cooper from CPJ agreed that journalists in Iraq very limited in their work and CPJ can not do much to protect them there, except.
A Cooper: Except to continue advising and reminding journalists that security there is their number one priority. You are there to cover the news, but you can not cover, if you do not do that.
N: The first months of 2006 added four more death of journalist to the CPJ database, one of them Iraqi journalist from Baghdad TV. He was shot on January during the clashes between the US military and Sunni rebels in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.
Galima Bukharbaeva Columbia Radio News.