The Reuters bureau chief for Baghdad left Iraq after he was threatened on Facebook and Shi’ite satellite television after reporting on lynching and looting in Tikrit.
Ned Parker received death threats and had his picture published on a Satellite television show calling for the expulsion of the Reuters journalist.
The calls came after Mr Parker and two colleagues detailed human rights abuses committed by the government on Islamic State militants, after recapturing the region of Tikrit.
A spokeswoman for Reuters said that the agency stood by the accuracy and fairness of its reports of the conflict in Iraq.
The US State Department spokesperson, Michael Lavallee, said, “We condemn all forms of intimidation and violence toward the media as the protection of journalistic freedoms is an essential aspect of all democratic societies,” adding that the State Department would “continue to closely monitor the treatment of international media in Iraq and raise objection to any form of intimidation that may inhibit the ability of media to perform their work.”
Ned Parker received death threats and had his picture published on a Satellite television show calling for the expulsion of the Reuters journalist.
The calls came after Mr Parker and two colleagues detailed human rights abuses committed by the government on Islamic State militants, after recapturing the region of Tikrit.
A spokeswoman for Reuters said that the agency stood by the accuracy and fairness of its reports of the conflict in Iraq.
The US State Department spokesperson, Michael Lavallee, said, “We condemn all forms of intimidation and violence toward the media as the protection of journalistic freedoms is an essential aspect of all democratic societies,” adding that the State Department would “continue to closely monitor the treatment of international media in Iraq and raise objection to any form of intimidation that may inhibit the ability of media to perform their work.”