1 May 2006
SLAIN IRAQI REPORTER HONOURED WITH OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB AWARD
The U.S.-based Overseas Press Club (OPC) has awarded its first posthumous award in more than 40 years to Yasser Salihee, a reporter for Knight-Ridder who was killed in July 2005 while covering the conflict in Iraq. Salihee was among dozens recently honoured with OPC Awards, which recognise excellence in international journalism.
The Knight-Ridder team of Salihee, Hannah Allam and Tom Lasseter won the prestigious Hal Boyle Award for best newspaper reporting from abroad for "Iraq: America's Failing War."
The judging committee said the team was "way ahead of other news organizations in recognizing that the deadly infighting between Shiites and Sunnis could turn into civil war." Salihee was reportedly killed by a U.S. sniper while passing through a checkpoint in Baghdad.
Other honourees included "Washington Post" reporter Dana Priest, whose report "The CIA's Secret War" exposed the existence of torture centres in several European countries; "Los Angeles Times" correspondent Barbara Demick, who chronicled human rights abuses in North Korea, and Marina Dobrovolskaya of Russia's Krasnoyarsk TV for her report "Fight for Justice".
The OPC Awards were founded in 1940 to recognize excellence for foreign coverage in the categories of print, broadcast and photography. This year's competition attracted 536 entries.
For more information on the awards, contact Bill Collins: Tel: 212 265 2794; E-mail: wcollin1@ford.com; Website: http://www.opcofamerica.org/
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