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href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/iraqjournalists_03-19-04.html">http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/iraqjournalists_03-19-04.html</A></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.cpj.org/">http://www.cpj.org/</A></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">March 19, 2004, 4:24 pm EST <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><BR>ARAB JOURNALISTS IN <?xml:namespace
prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">IRAQ</st1:place></st1:country-region> PROTEST DEATHS OF REPORTERS,
LACK OF SECURITY</SPAN> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Arab
journalists on Friday staged a walk out of a <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City> press conference given by U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell to protest the deaths of two of their colleagues
and the lack of security for the media.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The
Al-Arabiya satellite news channel reported Thursday that one of its cameramen,
Ali Abdel-Aziz, was killed and its correspondent, Ali al-Khatib, was critically
wounded when U.S. troops opened fire on their car at a checkpoint in Baghdad
around 10 p.m. local time Thursday. The reporter died from those injuries in a
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City> hospital
Friday. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">According
to Al-Arabiya, the two journalists were filming outside their car when the
American soldiers opened fire at another vehicle that sped toward a checkpoint
and slammed into a Humvee near the Burj al-Hayat hotel in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>. Officials with
the Dubai-based network said that as the two journalists tried to flee the
scene, fearing the driver was a suicide bomber, coalition troops opened fired.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">"There
were many cars in the area. One of them rammed an American Bradley fighting
vehicle. American soldiers fired at random, killing Ali Abdel-Aziz and
critically wounding Ali al-Khatib," Mohammed Ibrahim, the station's editing
supervisor in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>, said on Thursday.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">A
Pentagon spokesman on Friday said coalition troops had shot and killed one Iraqi
when his car sped through a checkpoint near the Burj al-Hayat hotel and slammed
into a Humvee. He said the Iraqi was the only person in the car, adding that
coalition forces did not find any media equipment, such as a camera or press
credentials, in the man's vehicle. The spokesman said coalition forces were
still trying to identify whether any journalists had been killed or wounded in
the incident. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The
spokesman said media reports linking the death of the speeding driver with those
of the journalists were erroneous. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">On
Friday, a representative of the Arab media stood up as Powell entered the
conference center in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City> and read a statement, condemning the
deaths of the two journalists. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">"We
demand an open investigation in front of the mass media," the representative
said. "We also demand that security be guaranteed to journalists" working in
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>, he said. Seconds later, more
than 20 journalists stood up and left the news conference.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Powell
responded to the walkout by saying, "I ... regret the loss of life, the two
journalists that they commemorated here by their action, I regret any loss of
life." He said the details of the shooting would be "looked into."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Al-Arabiya
demanded an investigation into the incident after the death of the second
journalist. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">"It's a
tragic event and we demand an immediate investigation and accountability
concerning those who are responsible for this," an Arabiya spokesman told
Reuters. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Mohsin
Abdel Hamid, a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, described
the shooting as "clear aggression by the occupation forces against the media."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">"We've
told them before not to behave like this. ... They have the right to defend
themselves but not to kill people like this in the street at random," he told
Al-Arabiya. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The
death of correspondent Ali al-Khatib brings to five the number of journalists
killed in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> in less than 24 hours.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">In a
separate incident on Thursday, unidentified gunmen killed three Iraqi employees
of the U.S.-funded television station, Diyala Television, as they travelled in a
minibus in the town of <st1:City w:st="on">Baquba</st1:City>, northeast of
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:City>. Eight
others were wounded in the attack, officials at Diyala Television said.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">The New
York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, a media watchdog organization, said
it was investigating the five deaths and stressed the ongoing perils faced by
the media in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">"On the
anniversary of the U.S.-led war in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region>, we are reminded of how dangerous a place
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> remains for the media," a CPJ
press statement said. "We are shocked and saddened by the deaths of our
colleagues and are actively seeking more
information." </SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>