’Daesh’ Threatens to Behead Iraqi Journalist

Local Editor

An Iraqi journalist has been kidnapped by so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] militants who are threatening to behead him if he refuses to work for them, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders [RSF] warned on Thursday.

Raad Mohammed al-Azzawi, a cameraman, was taken prisoner on September 7 in Samarra, a city around 120 kilometers [75 miles] north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, RSF said in a statement.

"The jihadist organization has announced that it plans to carry out its decapitation threat because the journalist refused to work for ISIL," it said.

Al-Azzawi joins a growing list of Iraqi journalists who have been captured or threatened by militants from Daesh, an extremist group that has seized a swathe of Iraq and Syria and has committed widespread atrocities.

Moreover, two captive US journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were beheaded in recent weeks according to videos released by the extremists.

Virginie Dangles, assistant research director of RSF, said that, "ISIL since its emergence has made journalists a terror target."

"The terrorist organization, in setting up an apparatus for kidnapping and executing news professionals, is attempting to eliminate all those who refuse to swear allegiance to ISIL," she said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team