U.S. Military Probes Cameraman's Death

[QuietStorm]

Slaying by Troops Called 'Terrible Tragedy'

By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 19, 2003; Page A15

BAGHDAD, Aug. 18 -- A U.S. military spokesman today called the shooting death of an award-winning Reuters cameraman "a terrible tragedy" and said an investigation underway could lead to changes in how the 132,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq decide when and how soon to open fire in a country still beset by guerrilla attacks and lawlessness.
Neiman Marcus

Mazen Dana, 43, was killed by U.S. soldiers on Sunday while working outside the Baghdad Central Penitentiary after they apparently mistook his camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. A colleague, Nael Shyoukhi, said a U.S. soldier at the prison had granted them permission to film shortly before the shooting. At least a half-dozen other journalists -- television cameramen, photographers and reporters -- were working nearby, along a barren expanse intersected by a busy highway.

snip
Shyoukhi said they spent 20 minutes at the prison gate, which was tucked behind sand-filled emplacements and barbed wire. When a U.S. soldier came out, they asked to interview him. He declined. They then asked his permission to film from a bridge about 500 yards away, which gives a commanding view of the prison's two-story cinder-block walls and series of guard posts.

"He said, 'No problem at all, you can go,' " Shyoukhi recalled

snip

Tom Glocer, the Reuters chief executive, called for the "fullest and comprehensive investigation into this terrible tragedy." The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders also urged an inquiry.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11462-2003Aug18.html