International press freedom organisation, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on Thursday expressed "grave concern" over the fate of Iraqi journalists apparently detained by the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces in northern Iraq.
The press body said that it was especially concerned about Iraqi journalists in the hands of an organisation that has publicly beheaded two US reporters in the past three weeks.
James Foley and Steven Sotcloff were executed separately within two weeks of each other and the brutal beheadings were videotaped and put on the Internet.
RWB said it was worried about Iraqi journalist Raad Mohammed Al-Azaoui, a cameraman for "Sama Salah Al-Deen TV" who was detained by ISIL on September 7 and is being threatened with beheading.
He is threatened with execution because he has apparently refused to work for the ISIL, RWB reported in a statement here.
"The Islamic State since its emergence has made journalists a terror target," said Reporters Without Borders. "The terrorist organisation, in setting up an apparatus for kidnapping and executing news professionals, is attempting to eliminate all those who refuse to swear allegiance to ISIL." Several other journalists are reported missing or detained in ISIL-controlled territory in northern Iraq and ISIL has publicly named and threatened nine press professionals in Mosul and Salahuddeen provinces and told them to stop working, join the ranks of ISIL, or face execution, RWB said, quoting Iraq's Journalistic Freedoms Observatory.