NOVEMBER

Kidnapped. Muntadhar Al Zaidi, correspondent for the independent Al Baghdadiya television station, said he spent more than two days blindfolded, barely eating and drinking, after armed men forced him into a car as he walked to work in an area of central Baghdad. He never learned the identity of the kidnappers, who beat him until he lost consciousness – and then questioned him closely about his work, but did not demand a ransom. Al Baghdadiya broadcasts from Cairo and is often critical of the government and U.S. military presence in the country.

Restricted. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said it will not allow news agencies to send journalists to interview members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) at their bases near Iraq’s northern border, reported Reuters. The KRG blames media reports for exacerbating the ongoing tensions with Turkey, which has positioned 100 thousand troops on the Iraqi border, ready for possible incursion. Kurdish fighters have previously launched regular attacks against Turkish soldiers.

Killed. Gunmen in Baghdad killed 11 family members of Iraqi Journalist Dia Al Kawwaz, the operator of Internet website Shabeqat Akhbar Al Iraq (Network of Iraqi News), which is known for its strong stance against the military occupation of Iraq. [At press time, some Internet forums have disputed the accuracy of this story – Editor].

Detained. The Somali government ordered independent local broadcaster Sha-belle Radio off air and briefly detained two of its senior staff. Somali officials gave no reason for the closure, but deny accusations of harassing local media.

Acquitted. The Dubai Court of Appt peals overturned a 2-month jail sentence handed out to two Khaleej Times journalists, reported Gulf News. Egytian Mohsin Rashid and Indian Prem Chandran were convicted in September of libeling an Iranian woman in an article about a bounced check on June 28 of last year. A recent decree by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prohibits journalists from being jailed for doing their work.

Extended. Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has said no change will be made to the country’s libel law, saying that would be “unconstitutional,” reported Reuters, citing an interview with the state-run Al Masaa newspaper. Since September, the law has been utilized to jail 11 journalists for offenses ranging from criticizing Mubarak and his son Jamal to allegedly misquoting a government minister.

DECEMBER

Arrested. Syrian journalist Ali Abdallah has been arrested again, but not yet charged. A contributor to several Arabic language daily newspapers, including al-Khalij and al-Arab, he has been arrested on several previous occasions. In 2006, he was imprisoned for six months for criticizing government policy, including an article in which he characterized the Syrian economy as “weak.”

Threatened. Death threats have been made against Faisal El-Bagir of the privately-owned Arabic-language weekly Al-Midan and four journalists employed by the privately-owned Arabic-language daily Al-Sahafa: Abdel Moneim Suleiman, Al-Haj Warraq, Al-Tahir Satti, and Rabbah Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi. Suleiman says he received an anonymous telephone call on December 4 from a person in neighboring Chad who said he had been offered $220,000 by someone in Sudan to kill each of the five journalists. The caller added that they were being targeted because of their opposition to the government and their support for the deployment of an international force in Darfur.

Censored. In Tunisia, Ali Amar, the Managing Editor of Journal Hebdomad daire, was forced by his printers to replace the front page photo and other photos inside for fear that the edition would be seized by authorities. The feature was about two Moroccan artists who were inspired by French artist Gustave Courbet’s painting “Origin of the World,” which had been withdrawn from an exhibition in Mexico at the request of the Iranian ambassador, who found it “prejudicial to the Muslim religion.”

Kidnapped. French journalist Gwen Le Gouil was kidnapped in northeast Somalia a day after arriving to begin an expose regarding human trafficking in the region. Authorities are believed to be negotiating with his captors, who have demanded a ransom of $70,000. Journalism rights groups say Somalia is the world’s most dangerous area for journalists after Iraq.

To be sentenced. Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, held by the U.S. military without charge for nearly 20 months, is scheduled to face unspecified charges in an Iraqi court. Hussein, an Iraqi citizen who worked as a freelance photographer for the AP in the volatile cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, helped the news agency earn a Pulitzer Prize for photography in 2005.