Apr 5, 2007, 14:03 GMT
Baghdad - An unidentified militia kidnapped an Iraqi journalist working for al-Watan Saudi daily and al-Watan al-Arabi magazine, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported Thursday citing the Observatory of Journalistic Freedoms.
Othman al-Mashhadani was kidnapped Wednesday night in al-Shuaala area of western Baghdad, the source added. Al-Mashhadani's colleagues told the Observatory that the kidnappers phoned his family asking them to pay a ransom.
Forty-nine Iraqi journalists and media staff have been kidnapped since the 2003 US-led invasion to Iraq. While most of them were killed, ten others in addition to al-Mashhadani remain missing.
A total of 186 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the US- led invasion, the Observatory of Journalistic Freedoms said Wednesday.
The Iraqi Society to Defend Journalists' Rights had said earlier this week that 18 journalists were killed and 19 others arrested in the first quarter of 2007.
The Observatory of Journalistic Freedoms is a non-governmental organization formed of Iraqi journalists to monitor violations against media workers.
In a separate incident, a woman television presenter Khamael Mohsen was found dead Thursday in Jamaa district in western Baghdad a day after her abduction.
Mohsen worked for Iraqi TV during Saddam Hussein's era and later for other broadcasters after the regime was overthrown.
Also an Iraqi security source said 10 Baghdad satellite TV channel employees were wounded, some seriously, in a car bomb blast targeting Baghdad TV headquarters in Jamaa district.
The station is the voice of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party led by Iraqi Vice President Tarek al-Hashimi.
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