In March the President of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, Moaid Al-Lami, survived a second assassination attempt. Al-Lami was first attacked in a bomb blast in September 2008 that left him with a shattered arm. That attack came only two months after his election, which followed the assassination of his predecessor, Shibab Al-Tamimi, in February 2008.
The International Federation of Journalists reports that while Iraqi journalists’ death toll has dropped markedly as general violence has subsided, there is a growing threat to those journalists who remain independent despite political pressure.