Minister al-Naqib:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the reported
detentions of several Baghdad-based staff members of the official Iranian
news agency IRNA.
Iraqi police detained Mostafa Darban, IRNA's Baghdad bureau chief, and
as many as three Iraqi staff members on Monday, according to international
news reports. The circumstances of the reported detentions remain unclear.
A spokesman for the interim Iraqi government told CPJ today that he
had no details of the reported arrests. Hassan Lavasani, IRNA's international
news editor, said his news agency had not been told why the journalists
were arrested, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today.
Lavasani said IRNA staff members Hassan Mohammed Khafaji and Mohsen
Madani were arrested along with the bureau chief, "and we don't know
what has happened to a fourth" staff member, AFP reported. Office equipment
was also seized, Lavasani said.
The Associated Press reported that the Iranian government had summoned
Khalil Salman al-Sabihi, Iraq's charge d'affaires to Tehran, on Wednesday
and demanded the journalists' release.
As an independent organization of journalists dedicated to defending
our colleagues worldwide, CPJ urgently requests that you make public
the basis on which Mostafa Darban and his colleagues are being held.
CPJ urges their immediate and unconditional release unless it can be
credibly shown they are guilty of an offense recognizable under international
law.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward
to your response.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
