Head of Iraqi Journalists Union Shot, Seriously Wounded

By: The head of the Iraqi Journalists' Union was shot and seriously wounded on Saturday, police and union officials said.

Union chief Shihab al-Timimi was shot by unidentified gunmen as he was being driven to an art gallery in Waziriya, near central Baghdad. He had just left the nearby headquarters of the union. His 22-year-old son, who was also in the car, was not hurt.

Associated Press Television News footage showed him with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the chest and bandaged shoulders and arms.

Al-Timimi, who is in his mid-70s, was elected president of the union in 2004.

Last year in Iraq, 47 journalists were killed ? up from 41 in 2006, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Most of the media workers killed covering the war were Iraqi journalists. A Russian photographer killed in a bomb explosion north of Baghdad was the lone foreigner, the report said. Twenty-five journalists were kidnapped. Most were freed unharmed.

A British journalist was kidnapped earlier this month in the southern city of Basra, one of the most lawless cities in Iraq.

Since 2004, three journalists ? Fakher Haider of The New York Times, as well as James Brandon of Britain and New York freelancer Steven Vincent ? have been abducted in Basra, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Brandon was released, but Vincent and Haider were slain.

According to CPJ, at least 51 journalists have been abducted in Iraq since 2004. The New York-based group said the majority were released, but 12 were killed.