exactly as received**
To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), CPJ_Asia@cpj.org
In Afghanistan, second female journalist killed in a week
New York, June 6, 2007 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is horrifiedby the murder in her home of radio station director Zakia Zaki inAfghanistan's Parwan province, north of the capital Kabul. Unidentifiedgunmen shot her several times near midnight this morning in the bedroom shewas sharing with her small children, according to international newsreports.
CPJ is investigating to determine the motives for her murder, the secondkilling of a female broadcast journalist in less than a week. On Friday,television news presenter Shokiba Sanga Amaaj was murdered in her Kabulhome.
"We are outraged at this brutal killing of a brave and respectedjournalist, and urge Afghan authorities to bring Zakia Zaki's killers tojustice," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "This murder, whichfollows so closely on the heels of the killing of Shokiba Sanga Amaaj,highlights the double hazard of being a woman and being a journalist inAfghanistan."
Zaki, 35, had run Radio Peace, a private news radio station, since the fallof the Taliban in 2001. She had been critical of local warlords, whorecently warned her to shut down the station, Rahimullah Samandar, head ofthe Afghan Independent Journalists Association, told international reporters.
She was also a teacher and was involved in drafting Afghanistan's 2003 constitution. Authorities condemned the murder and promised an investigation.
Meanwhile, authorities in Kabul have arrested several suspects in the May31 killing of Amaaj, a 22-year-old news presenter for Shamshad TV. Thesuspects were male relatives, according to international news reports. Themotive in that killing is unclear.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works tosafeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.
**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility of CPJ**
