[Media-watch] FW: Reuters disputes US version of cameraman's death

[Tim Gopsill]

Reuters disputes US version of cameraman's death
Dominic Timms
Tuesday November 02 2004
The Guardian


News agency Reuters today demanded a full investigation into the shooting of one of its cameramen in Iraq, after rejecting the US military's explanation of  the incident.

The Reuters global managing editor, David Schlesinger, dismissed American claims  that   Dhia Najim was killed yesterday during a gunfight between marines and insurgents in the city of Ramadi.

Mr Schlesinger said video footage taken just before Mr Najim died showed that the fighting in Ramadi, which the cameraman had been filming earlier in the day, had subsided.

"We reject the clear implication in the marines' statement that Dhia was part of an insurgent group," he said.

"This claim is not supported by the available evidence. I strongly urge the US military to conduct a proper investigation into this tragic event."

In their first comment on the incident, US military officials today insisted Mr Najim was killed during a gunfight between US marines and Iraqi insurgents.

"Marines from the 1st Marine Division of the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force engaged several insurgents in a brief small arms firefight that killed an individual who was carrying a video camera earlier Monday morning,"  a statement from the army said.

The International Federation of Journalists condemned the killing, which came just hours after a bomb attack on the Baghdad office of an Arabic television station killed seven people.

"Journalists and media staff are victims of unprecedented levels of brutality. We need more action to reduce risks and we need clear answers to hard questions about why our colleagues are being killed," said Aidan White, the IFJ general secretary .

"We need to be certain that journalists are not the victims of reckless behaviour or poor soldiering that can and should be avoided."

Mr Najim was killed by a bullet in the neck near his house in Ramadi's Andalus district. 

His family and colleagues alleged that he was shot by a US marine sniper, which news photographs taken on Sunday confirm were posted in the area.

Video shot from an upper floor of a nearby building shows Mr Najim was shot after moving into the open from behind a half-covered wall. 

The cameraman, who leaves a wife, three daughters and a son, is the 62nd journalist to be killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003, according to the IFJ.

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