47 journalists killed covering world hot spots in 2005

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New York (dpa) - Forty-seven journalists were killed covering world events in 2005, nearly half of them in Iraq, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday.

The most dangerous place to work was Iraq, where 22 journalists - mainly Iraqis - died, followed by the Philippines, where four were killed.

More than three-quarters of the dead globally were murdered "to silence their criticism or punish them for their work," the New York- based CPJ said in its annual survey of fatalities suffered by the international media.

"Too many journalists have lost their lives just because they were doing their jobs, and unresponsive governments bear responsibility for the toll," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

But the 2005 death toll was lower than the 57 deaths in 2004, two-thirds of which were murders.

In Iraq, CPJ said targeted killings had replaced deaths that occurred from crossfire as the major cause of journalist deaths there.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, 60 journalists have died. The main cause of death in 2003 and 2004 was accidental injuries during gun battles.

Most of journalists killed in Iraq were Iraqis, including three from U.S. fire. An American freelancer, Steven Vincent, was the only foreign journalist killed there in 2005 compared with three the year before.

CPJ said fire from U.S. forces had so far killed 13 journalists since March, 2003.

The four journalists killed in the Philippines included three radio journalists who had become target killings. There were eight killed there in 2004.

Lebanon, Russia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Somalia were other dangerous places, with two killed in each country. The two journalists killed in Lebanon, Samir Qassir and Gebran Tueni, were outspoken critics of Syria's occupation of their country.

There were four confirmed deaths in the Americas in 2005, down from eight the previous year.

Two journalists were still missing: Alfredo Jimenez Mota of Mexico and Elyuddin Telaumbanua of Indonesia.