A delegation from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Syndicate of Journalists will participate in the annual conference of Arab Journalists' Union, due in Baghdad tomorrow, Syndicate chief said today.

Azad Hama-Amin told AKnews the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate has sent its Kurdish counterpart an official invitation for attending the conference.

He added since the event coincides with elections for some administrative posts of the Kurdistan Syndicate, he cannot attend the conference.

However, a delegation of six journalists from Kurdistan will "actively engage in the conference and endeavor to participate in the discussions and to establish ties with all the Arab delegations," Mr. Hama-Amin said.

He said though Kurdistan Journalists' Syndicate is not a member in the Arab Journalists' Union "we hope we can have a positive contribution."

The official added the delegation will also try to invite the greatest possible number of participants for a similar conference in Kurdistan next year, which will expand on the syndicates and journalists' experiences especially in Egypt, Libya and Tunis.

He did not specify when this conference is going to take place.

20 state members will participate in Baghdad conference. Non-members states as Algeria and Djibouti have also demanded to attend the event which lasts for eight days.

In the first two days of the conference the participants will elaborate on press freedom in the Arab world.

Iraq remains one of the most dangerous countries to work as a journalist with press freedoms limited both by the state and non-state actors - the insurgents.

From 2003 to 2010 over 200 journalists were killed according to international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders. This made it the bloodiest conflict zone since the Second World War.

With the country's new status as the eighth most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International, highlights the number of stories and the capacity for a free press.

By Khidir Khalat

Source: AKnews