Threats against journalists increase in the run up to elections

Journalists working in Iraq say they are becoming increasingly nervous in the run up to elections on 30 January, particularly following the release of a leaflet in areas around Fallujah, some 60 km west of Baghdad. It offers money to anyone giving information on journalists, translators and drivers working with foreign companies or newspapers. Last week the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat closed its doors in the capital after receiving threats from insurgents, accusing it of publishing false information. "We were just doing our job in passing on the information that we received, nothing else, but some people prefer information to be omitted," one of the newspaper's journalists told IRIN in Baghdad on condition of anonymity. The story in question alleged that Omar Hadid, a famous wanted insurgent leader in Fallujah, was the brother of Hamid Hadid, the al-Jazeera satellite TV channel's chief in Iraq, but Hamid denied the accusation and said that it was just a coincidence in names. "It is very dangerous not to take care in a very delicate situation like that. A small confusion in names can bring the death of some people. Thank God it is fine now," he told IRIN. The leaflet also said that the media should be very careful not to influence people in choosing their candidates for the elections and that newspaper Internet sites are going to be checked very carefully for this purpose. It added that journalists entering the high-security Green Zone in Baghdad were being monitored. Foreign journalists are keeping their movements limited due to insecurity and many prefer Iraqi journalists to help in their work in areas they cannot reach. But this has created frustration as reporters feel their hands are tied. "The insurgents need us - the media - but they do not understand how important we are for them and for the country. We can reach where no one else can. I hope that they soon understand that," Henrrique Dobetine, an Italian freelance journalist working in Iraq for more than six months, told IRIN. The government has opened the doors to the media to cover the coming election in January, but at the same time it has brought anger from the insurgents as they want a boycott of the elections and have said that all the places used for voting will be targets. Officials from the Ministry of Interior told IRIN that they have difficulties in guaranteeing security to the media and have asked media personnel not to make unnecessary movements. "It's complicated to protect different groups but we are doing our job in increasing security everywhere in preparation for the coming elections," ministry spokesman Sabah Kadham told IRIN. Journalists and foreign workers have been targets of insurgency actions over the past few months. Many NGOs have since left the country. Most aid work is now being done by two main NGOs, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), with many projects being contracted out to private firms.