Rights Group Reports 47 Journalists Killed In 2005

Twenty-journalists were killed in Iraq in 2005 (AFP) 3 January 2006 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists says 47 journalists were killed worldwide in 2005, more than three-quarters of whom were murdered to silence or punish them for their work.

The New York-based group's annual survey found that Iraq was the most dangerous place for journalists in 2005. It also became the deadliest conflict for the media since the organization began keeping tallies 24 years ago.

The country accounted for 22 deaths in 2005, or nearly half of the year's total.

Russia recorded two deaths in 2005 -- Pavel Makeev from the Puls television station and Magomedzagid Varisov from Daghestan's weekly "Novoye Delo."

In Azerbaijan, Elmar Huseynov, founder and editor of the opposition weekly "Monitor," was gunned down. Bardhyl Ajeti, from the Albanian-language daily "Bota Sot," died after being shot in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

CPJ's analysis says slayings of journalists were carried out with impunity about 90 percent of the time in 2005, a figure consistent with data collected by CPJ over more than a decade.

(AP/cpj.org)