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A DANGEROUS BUSINESS. Lest any readers think the dangers faced by Associated Press source Jamil Hussein, discussed here last week, were being overblown:
The body of an Associated Press employee was found shot in the back of the head Friday, six days after he was last seen by his family leaving for work.Ahmed Hadi Naji, 28, was the fourth AP staffer to die violently in the Iraq war and the second AP employee killed in less than a month. He had been a messenger and occasional cameraman for the AP for 2 1/2 years....The circumstances of Naji's death were unclear. Dozens of Iraqis are found slain almost every day in Baghdad, many believed victims of sectarian death squads.Naji's wife, Sahba'a Mudhar Khalil, reported him missing Dec. 30 when he did not return that evening....Before Naji's killing, Reporters Without Borders had recorded at least 94 journalists killed in Iraq since the war started nearly four years ago. Forty-five media assistants also have been killed, according to the Paris-based advocacy group.The Committee to Protect Journalists had put the figure at 92 journalists and 37 media support workers killed in Iraq.Iraq is just an extremely dangerous environment for journalists, their aides, and their sources.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
