"Attack Shows Peril for Iraqi Journalists"

[GreenPartyVoter]

BAGHDAD (AP) - In a polarized Iraq, radio host Suhad Rabia did everything she could to stop her listeners from figuring out whether she was Shiite or Sunni.

When callers used abusive language to speak of ethnic or religious groups other than their own, she promptly took them off the air. When they expressed extremist sectarian sentiments, she reminded listeners that the station did not share their views. She sympathized with victims of sectarian cleansing, Shiite or Sunni, when they called in.

Not giving away her religious affiliation and creating a forum for all Iraqis were some of the things Rabia used in the three years she worked for Radio Dijla to bolster the station's reputation as an independent voice in a country devastated by violence.

Because Radio Dijla played a part in trying to heal Iraq's wounds, gunmen attacked the station in broad daylight May 3. The station's security chief was killed and two other employees were wounded in a 20-minute gunbattle. The building was bombed, torched and looted. Rabia, 29, survived by hiding in an editing room with six other women and two small children. But she was out of a job.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20070512/D8P2VOI80.html