War takes toll on 10 journalists

LONDON: The Iraq war has proved more deadly for journalists than both the 1991 Gulf war and the conflict in Afghanistan, with five reporters killed in Baghdad in the last 24 hours alone.

The death of journalists from Reuters news agency, Spanish broadcaster Telecinco and Arab TV channel al-Jazeera yesterday took to ten the number of people killed while working for the media. Fire from both sides have killed them. Yesterday, news organisations demanded answers from the United States after US attacks killed three reporters. "It's hard to believe this was just a mistake. We want proof this was not a deliberate attack on journalists," said Severine Cazes, head of the Middle East desk at Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders. A US tank fired a shell at a Baghdad hotel heavily populated with foreign journalists, killing Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso.

US forces said they had been responding to sniper fire and blamed Baghdad for using the hotel for military operations. But journalists on the scene said they heard no sniper fire. In a separate incident, al-Jazeera said cameraman Tarek Ayoub was killed in a US air raid on Baghdad. The Arab network accused the United States of deliberately bombing its offices to silence a powerful voice in the Arab world. In its defence, the Pentagon said it had warned reporters against going to Baghdad, saying it was highly dangerous.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which represents thousands of journalists around the world, called for an inquiry into possible war crimes against journalists. "The bombing of hotels where journalists are staying and targeting of Arab media are particularly shocking events," said IFJ Secretary General Aidan White. The demands of 24-hour television coverage, hundreds more journalists and multiple battle fronts have put journalists under pressure. More than 1,000 journalists are in Iraq covering the war including more than 200 in Baghdad, media watchdogs say.