BAGHDAD, 21 October 2005 — Angry Iraqi reporters held an impromptu memorial for the secretary of the Iraqi Journalists Union yesterday, a day after he was killed by unknown gunmen in the latest attack on the country’s beleaguered media.

The killing of 37-year-old Mohammed Haroon on Wednesday came on the same day as gunmen kidnapped an Irish journalist working in Baghdad as he covered Iraqis’ reaction to the start of the televised trial of Saddam Hussein.

“This is a big loss for the Iraqi press. We condemn this crime and call the government to investigate it,” union head Shihab Al-Timimi told Reuters as dozens of journalists gathered at union headquarters in Baghdad for a memorial for Haroon.

Haroon edited Baghdad’s Al-Hakeka (The Truth) newspaper. He set it up in 2004 and it was known for its critical stance against the Baghdad government and the US presence in Iraq.

Haroon was to be buried at his hometown near the city of Kerbala, 110 km south of Baghdad, Timimi said.

Iraqi journalists have increasingly become targets of violence, kidnappings and murder as bloody sectarian fighting spread in the aftermath of the 2003 overthrow of Saddam.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 56 journalists have been killed while working in Iraq since 2003, including 37 Iraqis and 19 foreigners.

Another 22 media workers have been killed during the same time period. Nineteen journalists have died at the hands of Iraqi insurgents, while at least eight others have been killed by fire from US forces, according to the CPJ.

Haroon’s death came as gunmen kidnapped Irish journalist Rory Carroll, 33, who was interviewing a Baghdad family about the start of Saddam’s trial.

The editor of Carroll’s paper, the London-based Guardian, appealed to Carroll’s captors in a front page article to release him.

“We are deeply concerned,” Alan Rusbridger wrote. “He is a very good, very straight journalist whose only concern is to report fairly and truthfully about the country.” Carroll disappeared a year to the day since Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan was snatched on her way to work in Baghdad. She was later killed by her captors.