Kurdish journalist beaten in Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq, July 4 (UPI) -- The head of the public satellite television network Newroz was beaten by armed men after being ambushed near Erbil in northern Iraq, a journalists' group says.

Reporters Without Borders in Montreal Friday condemned the Tuesday assault on Azad Arkuchi.

His assailants were described as wearing military uniforms and driving a police car. The journalist's organization said Arkuchi was bound and blindfolded, driven to an unknown destination and beaten. He was then left on a road late at night.

"We call for an investigation to be opened without delay to catch those involved in this assault and to discover what role may have been played by members of the local police," the international press freedom group said.

Another journalist, Nabaz Goran, was kidnapped for several hours in a similar way in Erbil more than a year ago. His assailants have never been identified.

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