Iraqi journalist's family 'safe'

Mr Kawwaz (r) held a public wake for relatives he said had been killed

The family of an Iraqi journalist - who he claimed had been killed by gunmen in Baghdad - have appeared on Iraqi television, apparently safe and well.

Dia al-Kawwaz, who lives in Jordan, said that several members of his family were killed by Shia gunmen on Sunday.

But a taped report on the US-owned al-Hurra TV showed his family, none of whom seemed distressed or injured.

Mr Kawwaz' sisters denounced his actions, saying there had never been any sort of threat against them.

One of his brothers-in-law suggested that he had made the story up for political reasons.

Mr Kawwaz edits a website that has been critical of the Iraqi government and the US military presence in Iraq.

He has lived outside Iraq for more than 20 years.

On his site, Mr Kawwaz said the gunmen stormed into his family home in a Shia district of north Baghdad on Sunday, opening fire indiscriminately killing his two sisters, their husbands and four young children as they ate breakfast.

He said the attackers threw explosives into the house before driving off in a vehicle with no number plates, passing unhindered through a nearby police checkpoint.

Mr Kawwaz was unequivocal in accusing Shia militia men of carrying out the attack.

At the time, Interior Ministry officials denied all knowledge of any attack.