UNITED NATIONS — The United States is turning the U.N. Security Council's spotlight on the protection of journalists in conflicts later this month.
Acting U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, the council president for July, told reporters Tuesday that since members last considered the issue in 2006, "worldwide violence against journalists has worsened and there has been a particular increase in murders and imprisonment arising from conflict situations."
She said U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson will brief the council on July 17 on the protection of journalists along with Richard Engel of NBC, Somali journalist Mustafa Haji Abdinur from Radio Simba and Agence France Presse, Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad from the Guardian, and Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, who is vice chair of the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
