18 March 2004
Ali Abdelaziz
Shooting
Iraqi cameraman for Al-Arabiya satellite news channel was killed and a correspondent, also Iraqi, was seriously wounded by US fire in Baghdad, officials from the Dubai-based station told AFP.
Al-Arabiya news editor Salah Najm told AFP the channel would ask US authorities to investigate the incident.
"The car in which they were driving was clearly marked 'TV'. We will demand an investigation into the incident," Najm said. Al-Arabiya reporter Hadeer al-Rubaie said cameraman Ali Abdul Aziz was shot dead an correspondent Ali al-Khatib was critically injured when a team from the channel went to cover an attack on the Burj al-Hayat hotel and US forces who cordoned off the area opened fire. U.S. troops shot dead an Iraqi journalist working for Dubai-based satellite television channel Al Arabiya and critically wounded another in central Baghdad on Thursday, the station and colleagues said. Arabiya employees said the Iraqis were driving in central Baghdad when another car drove through a U.S. checkpoint. They said U.S. troops then opened fire on both cars.
"I stopped in front of the checkpoint and then I saw another car coming fast towards it and I thought it was going to explode," said Ahmed Abdul Amiya, driver of the Al Arabiya car. "I tried to race away...and then the Americans started firing at random. They hit the first car and then they started shooting at our car."
