The editorial, with the headline "Secure us. … Don't bury us," said that under the hated occupation politicians stumble over the situation in Iraq.

The paper, loyal to the Association of Muslim Scholars Newspaper, said that politicians' actions had turned the country into a graveyard for Iraqi journalists.

"This is an unacceptable ethical scandal and a violation of behavior because it sends a message to the media that danger and death will be their inescapable fate," it said.

It said there was a plot to shut the media that investigate those who divide Iraq, steal its wealth and kill its people.

"Politicians ... tell the media they only have two choices: either stay in their country where people are killed by enemies and their agents and face death, or leave and be displaced. This is a plot to empty Iraq of its intellectuals and professionals," it said.

It said the assassination of Shihab al-Temimi, president of the Journalists Union, was proof of the bias against nationalists like him.

"The reason for al-Temimi's murder, at age of 75, is his many known national positions and his critical writing of the political, economic and social situation in occupied Iraq," it said.

It noted that al-Temimi received many threats in 2005 that forced him to hide, but he had reappeared after the government "guaranteed" to protect Iraqi journalists against assassinations.

"The media in Iraq is facing a huge step backward due to many who target and consider the lives of journalists worthless, and who don't want them in the land of Mesopotamia," it said.

The editorial, citing Reporters Without Borders, said the number of Iraqi journalists killed while covering the news exceeded 200, higher than those journalists killed in Korea, Vietnam and World War II.

It noted that the January 2008 report from the Iraqi Committee to Defend Journalists' Rights said Iraq was one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalistic work. The committee said that in 2007, 54 media workers were killed in various parts of Iraq.

It also said journalists held the government accountable for their safety instead of forcing upon them a life of humiliation and displacement.