RSF Says 2005 Deadliest For Media In 10 Years

Journalist Elmar Huseinov was killed in Azerbaijan (file photo) (Turan) May 2, 2006 -- The Paris-based press-freedom body Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said today that last year was the deadliest for journalists in a decade, with 63 reporters and five media aides killed around the world.

Iraq accounted for 24 of the deaths. That made Iraq the most dangerous place to work, followed by the Philippines, where seven journalists were killed.

Latin America is also a "high-risk zone" -- seven journalists and a media aide died there last year.

RSF said in its annual report, issued ahead of World Press Freedom Day tomorrow, that an estimated 1,300 journalists were attacked or threatened around the world.

Conditions also deteriorated in the states of the former Soviet Union, in particular in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

Iran remained the biggest prison for reporters in the Mideast region, RSF said.

(AFP)