Journalist Pardoned by Kurdish Government

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The prime minister of northern Iraq's Kurdish government pardoned a journalist given an 18-month prison sentence for articles accusing one of the region's top leaders of corruption, a government spokesman said.

Kamal Karim, an Iraqi-born dual Austrian national, was arrested in October for the articles on a Kurdish Web site criticizing Massoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party. His sentence was handed down March 26.

The prime minister issued the pardon under pressure from local and international groups, said the regional spokesman, Mohammed Khoshna.

This act "proves that the government maintains and supports democracy in this region," Khoshna said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists was among those who condemned the sentence and demanded the writer's immediate release.

"It's an outrage and sad reflection of press freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan that Kamel Karim is imprisoned for expressing his opinion," Ann Cooper, the committee's executive director, said in a statement last week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_journalist_released