Some 8 Arab journalists were killed because of their career in 2001
The Arab organization for the freedom of the press which takes London as a headquarters said that number of Arab journalists which were killed while performing press missions or because they practice this career increased to 8 including two women journalists in 2001, for only one journalist who was killed in 2000.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the statement said it is the first time in which number of Arab press victims while carrying out their duties reached this number.
The statement said the Arab press played an important role in the attempt to disseminate the language of dialogue and tolerance.
The statement mentioned the names of the killed journalists. They are Ammari Bin Zuqeir who was assassinated by unidentified persons in Algeria on January2nd 2001; Hisham Mekki who was assassinated on January 17 in Gaza, Hedayah Salem al-Sabah, a Kuwaiti woman journalist who was shot in Kuwait on March 12. An accused Kuwaiti police officer said he assassinated Hedayah in revenge of his tribe because she wrote articles against this tribe.
The statement also included Muhammad Jamil Bandi Rosbayani who was assassinated in his house in Baghdad and his deformed body was found on March 26. It was expected that he was killed by the Iraqi intelligence. The statement also included Fadilah al-Najmah who was crushed by a car as she was covering a demonstration by al Qabayel men in Algeria on July 14 and also Adel Razouq who was killed upon covering the events of al-Qabayel demonstration in Algeria on June 14, 2001.
The statement also mentioned the names of Muhammad Beshawi and Othman Ibrahim Qattani who were shot in Nablus during a press interview at Hamas studies office on July 31, 2001.
