For the second year in a row, Iraq was the world's most dangerous place for journalists to work in 2004.
An annual report by the media watchdog organization, Reporters Without Borders, says 19 reporters and 12 media assistants were killed covering the U.S.-led operation in Iraq last year. It says guerrilla attacks and terrorist strikes accounted for most of those deaths, although the U.S. military is blamed for the deaths of four Arab journalists.
In 2003, 12 journalists were killed in Iraq and two others went missing.
Worldwide, 53 journalists were slain, the highest total since 1995.
Attempts to expose corruption and report on organized crime put journalists at the greatest risk. Reporters Without Borders says 997 journalists were arrested, 1146 were attacked or threatened, and 622 were censored by various governments.
North Korea, Burma, Vietnam, Laos and China are noted as having the worst records of media suppression in the world.
Some information for this story provided by AFP and AP.
