Italian journalists are more equal than Afghan journalists, it seems, for the Kabul government, for Taliban extremists, and even for the International Federation of Journalists. In early March, a kidnapped journalist working for La Repubblica was released after ransom was paid by the Italian and Afghan authorities. But when Kabul refused to meet new demands to free the Italian journalist's working companion, journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi, the Taliban murdered him with "cynical and sickening brutality", in the words of the IFJ. But then, the international watchdog's own worries seemed more concerned with foreign correspondents than with the local journalists who face daily trials and tribulations. IFJ's 8 April press release was titled "Bargaining with Taliban Increases Risk to Foreign Media". Why this extreme concern for foreign media when a local journalist has just been killed? Is this lack of perspective breathtaking, or what?
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Hameed Haroon, the publisher of Karachi's Dawn, has issued a public appeal for support against the