UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23, 2006

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(AP) The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Saturday condemning all attacks targeting journalists in armed conflicts and urging combatants to stop singling out members of the media and respect their professional independence.

The resolution is the first by the U.N.'s most powerful body dealing specifically with journalists in armed conflict.

Greece's U.N. Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis said the resolution, sponsored by Greece and France, is “intended to raise international awareness to the dangers that the journalists, media professionals and associate personnel face when reporting in situations of armed conflict.”

“This is, we believe, a decisive first step in the right direction and sends a clear and unambiguous message to all parties in armed conflict that journalists and media personnel must be afforded the protection accruing to them under applicable international law and interntional humanitarian law,” Vassilakis said after the vote.

The resolution stresses that journalists and media professionals engaged in dangerous areas of armed conflict are civilians and must be protected as such “provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.”

It expresses deep concern “at the frequency of acts of violence in many parts of the world against journalists, medial professionals and associated personnel in armed conflict, in particular the deliberate attacks in violation of international humanitarian law.”

It “condemns intentional attacks” against them “and calls upon all parties to put an end to such practices.”

The Security Council stresses that the deliberate targeting of civilians “may constitute a threat to international peace and security” and reaffirms its readiness “to consider such situations and, where necessary, to adopt appropriate steps.”

The resolution “urges all parties involved in situations of armed conflict to respect the professional independence and rights of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel as civilians.”

It also urges warring parties “to do their utmost to prevent violations of international humanitarian law against civilians, including journalists, media professionals and associated personnel.”

The resolution emphasizes that there are existing prohibitions under international humanitarian law against attacks intentionally directed against civilians, including journalists, “which in situations of armed conflicts constitute war crimes.”

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said earlier this month when the text was first circulated that there is increasing concern about the situation of journalists in armed conflict, noting that 75 have been killed so far this year.

U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland, who has since stepped down, said at the time that “members of the media, acting as the world's witnesses to atrocities and humanitarian needs, alerting all of us to our responsibilities, have ... been increasingly subject to attack.” He noted that 25 journalists have been killed in Iraq this year.

To ensure that the Security Council regularly tackles the issue, the resolution asks the secretary-general to address the safety and security of journalists in his regular reports on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

A request to address the protection of journalists in his reports on specific countries, which was in the original text, was dropped.