PARIS The number of reporters killed on the job has risen 244 percent over the past five years, due in large part to the Iraq war, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.

More than half of the 86 journalists killed worldwide last year died in Iraq, the Paris-based media watchdog said. In 2002, by comparison, 25 journalists were killed worldwide, and the number has risen steadily since, it said.

All but one of the 47 reporters killed in Iraq last year were Iraqi nationals — most of them "deliberately targeted," the group said. The only foreigner was a Russian reporter.

"No country has ever seen more journalists killed than Iraq," the group said. At least 207 media workers have died in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, it said.

Other deadly countries for journalists in 2007 included Somalia, with eight reporters killed; Pakistan, with six deaths; and Sri Lanka, with three.

Worldwide, at least 887 journalists were arrested in 2007, the group said. China had more reporters behind bars than any other country, with 33 journalists in jail there last year, it said. Cuba came in second, with 24 journalists imprisoned in 2007.

China also led the list of countries that censored the Internet in 2007. The Chinese government shut down about 2,500 Web sites, blogs and forums during the Communist Party congress in October, Reporters Without Borders said.

Worldwide, at least 2,676 Web sites were shut down, largely for political reasons, the report said.

Another media watchdog, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, put the number of media workers killed in 2007 at 134. Their figure included both journalists and those who help them do their jobs.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which uses strict er definitions, said in December that 64 journalists in 17 countries were killed in 2007.

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