'Only Iraq and Somalia' are more dangerous than Sri Lanka

Geneva based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) says seven journalists killed in the island nation as violence between the government forces and the LTTE escalated.

Only for journalists were killed and less journalists were harrassed in the previous year, a statement issued by the PEC said.

The watchdog said the press freedom has been drastically deteriorated worldwide.

"Never before has so many journalists been killed in one year, the total up to date is 110 as compared with 96 in 2006 and 68 in 2005," it stated.

The most dangerous country for the journalists is Iraq where 50 journalists were killed within one year, according to the monitoring system.

	Journalists were arrested and abducted during the year

At least 250 journalists were killed in Iraq since the American-led invasion in March 2003.

"This year's tally represents a 14 percent increase over the 2006 figure. In total journalists have been killed in 27 countries," the PEC statement said.

Sri Lanka, where over 5000 people were killed within just over a year since violence escalated is the second dangerous country after Somalia, according to the watchdog.

Eight journalists were killed in Somalia where only one journalist was killed last year.

Sri Lanka's close ally in the region, Pakistan, is the most dangerous in the region after the island nation.

Five journalists were killed in Pakistan; both Afghanistan and the Philippines have seen four journalists killed in each country.

"Haiti, Columbia and Mexico flag at the Sixth, seventh and eighth positions with three killed in each country. The tally continues: Nepal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Eritrea, and India and Guatemala: two journalists killed in each country," the statement said.

A journalist was killed in each of the following countries, the statement added:Honduras, Uzbekistan, Salvador, Burma/Myanmar, United States, Paraguay, Gaza, Zimbabwe, Russia, Peru, Brazil, Ghana and Turkey.