Many foreign correspondents in Iraq are restricting themselves to Baghdad hotel rooms or are leaving the country because of the risk of being kidnapped or killed, media organisations said on Wednesday.
The capture of at least five journalists — three Czech, one French and one Japanese — among an estimated 40 hostages from more than 12 countries believed to be in the hands of Iraqi insurgents has prompted the extra caution.
As a result, many reporters are relying on Iraqi freelance journalists to gather information and television pictures.
Italian television teams are particularly on their guard after a top aide to the militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr — declared an outlaw by United States officials — was briefly arrested by soldiers after giving them an interview.
”Locally, that was seen as a trap, and in that climate our correspondents … have been cooped up in their hotel since Tuesday morning, which is very frustrating for them,” said Luca Rigoni, the foreign editor of Italy’s commercial television company Mediaset.
He added that flight reservations has already been made to bring the journalists home ”if the situation doesn’t change”.
The French government has issued a demand for the release of a French television journalist, Alexandre Jordanov, who was grabbed by armed Iraqis near Baghdad last Sunday when a US military convoy he was following came under attack.
French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said there has been no news about the 40-year-old journalist since.
France, Russia, Portugal and the Czech Republic have all urged their citizens to leave Iraq.
Some Spanish media bosses said they are thinking about pulling correspondents out of Baghdad, where they have been confined to hotel rooms since the upsurge in violence and the spate of kidnappings.
The journalists have been advised to move about in the company of other reporters, and some, such as commercial television network Antena 3, said they are hesitant to send any more correspondents.
Directors of Austrian media employing experienced war journalist Friedrich Orter for their coverage said ”the situation is being looked at daily” and that he is free to leave any time he feels the danger has become too great.
Like many individual correspondents from European organisations, Orter does not have an armed bodyguard, unlike employees of big television networks such as CNN of the US.
German journalists working for the television networks N24, Pro7, SAT1, Kabel 1 are all staying put, though they are not moving far from their hotels, their editorial chiefs said.
Although citizens and employees of companies from countries supporting the US-led occupation feel especially threatened, the kidnapping of Jordanov, of anti-war France, and the brief abduction of three Russian workers have made journalists aware that any foreigner is at risk.
But even though Baghdad is relatively safer, bomb attacks in recent weeks and months mean the capital is no haven.
Many media companies that are unable or unwilling to send journalists to Iraq say they depend on print and television wire services for their coverage.
Countries giving strong support to the occupation, such as Britain and Poland, have many journalists in Iraq and for the moment they are either remaining or being rotated.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper said a correspondent is returning to London on Thursday, but that was planned well in advance, and a freelance local journalist is staying on in Baghdad. It declined to divulge security measures.
The Daily Telegraph said its two British journalists will stay in Baghdad ”unless there was good reason” but they have to get authorisation from London before making any trips.
A dozen Polish journalists are remaining in Iraq under the protection of Polish troops deployed south of Baghdad, said Polish military spokesperson Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski.
”If they make outside trips, it’s only in our military convoys,” he said.
A journalist for Portuguese radio and television, Daniel do Rosario, is to return from Iraq in a few days, said the head of Radio Renascenca, Francisco Sarsfield Cabral.
The US newspaper the Wall Street Journal said on Monday that no major US news organisations are pulling out of Iraq, but that many US reporters are staying indoors.
”This is about as dangerous a situation as I’ve ever encountered,” it quoted Paul Slavin, senior vice-president at ABC News, as saying. ”Right now it is out of control. If it does stay out of control, we will have a huge problem in how we cover this story.” — Sapa-AFP