Foreign correspondent’s family killed in Iraq

Deutsche Welle reports that eleven members of the family of an Iraqi foreign correspondent based in Jordan having been killed in Baghdad,

Armed men have massacred eleven family members of an Iraqi foreign correspondent, including seven children. The correspondent himself, Dia al-Kawas called the AFP news agency from Amman in Jordan where he works at an online Iraqi newspaper. He said four men attacked the family home on Sunday and killed everyone inside, including his two sisters, their husbands and their children. Many journalists have fled Iraq or write under an alias, fearing attacks by armed militia who have already killed many working in the media. A journalist lobby group in Iraq said none of those cases has been solved. link

UPDATE: It appears this story is false. According to the Sacramento Bee, one member of the journalist’s family was killed,

An Iraqi journalist who claimed Monday that gunmen had killed 11 family members in Baghdad recanted Friday, saying there had been no massacre and that the only person killed was a brother-in-law who died between Kut in the south and Baghdad.
Dhia al-Kawazz, who publishes a Web site from Amman, Jordan, said his initial claim – which was widely reported, including by McClatchy – was based on false information. Family members said he lied to get his family refugee status in Jordan. via Greenslade