Four men assaulted Nicat Huseynov, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Azadliq (Freedom), as he left his home for work, the newspaper's deputy editor Ali Rza said.

Rza said Huseynov was beaten and that the four men tried to stab him but the blade didn't penetrate his body. He said the reporter was being treated for internal injuries at a hospital.

"The only reason for the attack was the journalist's professional activities. This is not the first time that a correspondent from our newspaper has been the target of violence," said Rza.

Opposition parties and independent media outlets have suffered frequent harassment in the oil-rich ex-Soviet state, ruled for years by members of the same family - first by former Communist boss Heydar Aliyev and now by his son, Ilham Aliyev, who was elected in a 2003 vote denounced by the opposition.

An Azadliq reporter was attacked in March in Baku, and an opposition magazine editor was gunned down in the lobby of his apartment building last year. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/