The killing of two employees of ABC News brings to at least 82 the number of Iraqi journalists killed since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003. Alaa Uldeen Aziz and Saif Laith Yousuf were kidnapped Thursday and their bodies found Friday at the Baghdad morgue, UPI reported. The deaths have stunned a media corps that has lost dozens of lives in the conflict, said ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider. The media has had unparalleled freedom in Iraq since the invasion but at least 82 Iraqi journalists have died, including eight this year. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 104 journalists have died in Iraq since 2003, including the 82 Iraqis. Aziz and Yousuf believed they were helping their country by finding stories and transmitting them to the world. "They were incredibly brave," Schneider said. Their deaths have convinced at least one reporter to leave Iraq for good. "Every day we are losing people we know. One day it will reach me," said the reporter, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid problems with his employer.
