Gunmen kidnapped two Iraqi correspondents working for an independent satellite television channel, officials said today.
Reem Zaid (23) and colleague Marwan Khaza'al (25) were returning to the offices of Sumariya TV in Baghdad on Wednesday after attending a press conference when they were kidnapped, said a station official.
"They were in a car with two cameramen and their driver when another car blocked them. The five gunmen took the correspondents and their car and left the two cameramen," the official said.
Sunni militants frequently target journalists working for US-backed or other foreign news outlets in Iraq. As a result many have quit their work or take great precautions not to be identified with their employers.
Many Iraqi media outlets are also controlled by various political factions inside and outside the government.
But the Sumariya official stressed the station was privately owned by Iraqis and had no links to any political group.
American reporter Jill Carroll, who was abducted by gunmen in Baghdad on January 7th, is still being held hostage. Her kidnappers have threatened to kill her unless women detainees held by US forces and the Iraqi Interior Ministry are freed.