Iraqi Journalists Union chief critically wounded

BAGHDAD (CNN) - The head of the Iraqi Journalists Union, Shihab al-Tamimi, was shot and critically wounded near his group's office on Maghreb Street in northeastern Baghdad Saturday, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official.

Al-Tamimi has been critical in the past of the U.S. military's relations with Iraqi journalists. The union's office - near where al-Timimi was shot - was raided by the U.S. military a year ago.

Since the war started nearly five years ago, 126 journalists on duty and 50 media support workers have been killed in Iraq, according to Committee to Protect Journalists, a journalists' watchdog group. CPJ said at least 51 journalists have been abducted since 2004. Most were released, but 12 were killed, it said. "Of those abducted, 65 percent were foreigners and 76 percent worked for international media organizations," CPJ said.