Three women win awards for courageous journalism

Three journalists have received awards for their work in Afghanistan, Russia and Zimbabwe.

Kathy Gannon, Anna Politkovskaya and Sandra Nyaira received honours for risking their lives at the 13th Annual Courage In Journalism Awards, held by the International Women's Media Federation.

"The chosen are being honoured for risking their lives to report in-depth, illuminating stories about war and repression in different parts of the globe," said Judy Woodruff, chair of the awards.

Canadian Kathy Gannon is chief of the Associated Press bureau in Pakistan and was one of the few international journalists in Kabul on 11 September, 2001. She was the only Western journalist allowed back in Kabul by the Taliban on 25 October, and was in her office in November when US bombs flattened parts of the neighbourhood.

Anna Politkovskaya is a reporter for the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Her reporting on the war in Chechnya has earned her threats from both the Russian government and Chechen rebels. In February 2001, she was arrested in Chechnya by Russian security forces and accused of entering the region without proper accreditation. In September 2001, Novaya Gazeta began receiving threats linked to Politkovskaya's reporting.

Sandra Nyaira, the 27-year-old political editor at The Daily News in Harare, Zimbabwe, works amid daily threats in a country with one of the worst records of press freedom in the world. Because she has reported on the corruption of President Robert Mugabe and his government, she often has to stay in safe houses to avoid detection and harassment.

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