Abed Takoush, 53, was killed on 24 May, 2000 while covering the Israeli pullout from Southern Lebanon. An Israeli tank shell was fired at his parked car on the Lebanese side of the border. He had worked as a driver and producer with BBC teams for 25 years.

Jeremy Bowen, who was then Middle East Correspondent, had just left the car and witnessed the attack from a short distance away. He described Abed as a tower of strength to the crews working in the region. 'He knew where to go, who to talk to, where we could cover the war without getting swept up in it. Abed loved his work, he loved the scent of a story, he loved news and in the end he died for it'.

Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan, 38, the BBC's Sinhala Service stringer in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, was killed on 19 October, 2000 in a grenade and gun attack on his home. The attack was witnessed by his parents and family. He was the only independent journalist reporting from war-torn Jaffna,and was well-known for his coverage of the separatist war in Sri Lanka and the bitter in-fighting between Tamil political parties in government-controlled areas of the peninsula.

Priyath Liyanage, Head of the BBC's Sinhala Service, said: 'I once asked Nimal to be careful because he had many threats from the warring parties. His reply was,"Who would tell the story of what is happening to my people if I didn't?". True enough; since he died we are still trying to find a journalist who is brave enough to replace him.'

Shamsur Rahman was shot dead outside his home in Jessore in the extreme south-west of Bangladesh on 16 July, 2000. Rahman, a regular contributor to the BBC Bengali service, reported extensively on violence by outlawed Communist groups and local Islamist forces, and many believed he had been marked for death by both groups. But no one has been brought to justice after nearly a decade.

Mustaq Ali, a 27-year-old freelance cameraman in Kashmir, was fatally wounded when a parcel bomb exploded in the BBC office in Srinagar. He took the full force of the explosion, which also injured the BBC correspondent, Yusef Jameel, and a photographer. The parcel had been delivered a short time earlier by a woman wearing a burqua. The attack, on 7 September, 1995 was seen as evidence of the intense pressures on journalists covering the Muslim uprising in Kashmir – from rival separatist groups, the Indian government and security forces. Fellow journalists in the Kashmir Valley went on strike for three days in protest at the killing.

BBC reporter John Schofield, 29, was shot dead by Croatian soldiers on 9 August, 1995. He had been travelling with colleagues from Karlovac to Bihac in Bosnia. They had left their armoured vehicle to film burning villages when Croatian soldiers opened fire. John died instantly when he was hit by a single bullet. He had gone to the region to report for the BBC radio programme The World Tonight. Presenter Robin Lustig described him as the kind of man who gave journalism a good name. ‘He had immense energy, coupled with a scrupulous regard for the facts and an unshakeable belief in fair dealing.'

Mohyeddin Alempour, the BBC's chief stringer in the central Asian republic of Tajikistan, was found dead on December 12th, 1995 . His death had all the hallmarks of a political murder. None of his belongings had been stolen but he had been killed with a single shot to the head.

Mohyeddin, 50, was one of a number of journalists killed during the country's five-year civil war, most by paramilitary forces. He was a writer, photographer and broadcaster who had reported for the Persian Service for five years. David Morton, the BBC's Head of Region for the former Soviet Union, described Mohyeddin as a well-loved and respected national figure, who had made an outstanding contribution to the Persian Service.

Mirwais Jalil, a stringer in Afghanistan for the BBC's Pashto and Persian services, was murdered on 29 July, 1994. He had gone with an Italian journalist to interview the then prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, at his base south of Kabul. On their return journey, five masked men stopped the taxi in which they were travelling and Mirwais, 25, was abducted at gunpoint. His body was found the following morning. He had been shot and stabbed at least 20 times in the chest and head.

BBC correspondent William Reeve said that as an Afghan, Mirwais had been under extra pressure because almost everybody in the country listened to the Pashto and Persian services. He had been threatened many times but had bravely continued his work as a journalist, fixer and tireless translator for the BBC.