More Than 1,100 Journalists Killed In Decade (David Clarke)

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More than 1,100 journalists and support staff have been killed carrying out their work in the past decade and the annual toll has jumped since 2003.

By David Clarke

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) -- More than 1,100 journalists and support staff have been killed carrying out their work in the past decade and the annual toll has jumped since 2003, the year of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a report said on Tuesday.

The study by the International News Safety Institute (INSI), a coalition of media organisations, press freedom groups and humanitarian campaigners, showed Iraq was the most dangerous place for journalists, followed by Russia and Colombia.

In the years since the invasion of Iraq, an insurgency against the Western-backed government has gained in ferocity.

Worldwide, last year was the worst for media workers with 167 killed worldwide, up from 149 in 2005 and 131 in 2004. That compares with 94 in 2003, 70 in 2002 and 103 in 2001.

The total tally since the start of 1996 was 1,101, said the report, "Killing the Messenger". Nearly half were shot and the vast majority -- at least 657 people -- were murdered covering news during peacetime in their own country.

In two thirds of cases the killers were not identified and convictions have been obtained in only 27 cases.