Iraq's northern Kurdish enclave may be a haven of relative peace and serenity but independent journalists there say challenges to the political establishment are being met with intimidation and threats.

In the largely autonomous territory, streets are swept clean and people walk without fear -- a stark contrast to the concrete walls and barbed wire that have defined life for most Iraqis in more than five years of war.

Still, about 60 Kurdish journalists were killed, threatened, attacked, or taken to court in the first half of 2008, says the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Last month, Soran Mamahama, a 23-year-old writer for Livin magazine, published in the Kurdish town of Sulaimaniya, was gunned down outside his home in Kirkuk, a week after his report linking security officials to prostitution rings.

In the past few years, many other Kurdish journalists have been beaten, jailed, threatened with death or simply hassled by the authorities while doing their job.

"In Kurdistan there is no freedom for journalists. I have proof of that -- the most recent proof was Soran," says Hemen Mamand, a young radio reporter in Arbil who wears a small likeness of Che Guevara around his neck.

"We don't know who killed him, but we do know that the government didn't care," said Mamand, who himself was threatened when he wrote a story about an alleged case of corruption linked to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani's powerful KDP party.

HEYET Net- Reuters