Mazen Dana

Reuters Urges Rumsfeld to
Probe Cameraman's Death

REUTERS 20aug03

LONDON—The head of Reuters wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday asking for a fair and comprehensive inquiry into the killing by U.S. troops in Iraq of the news agency's cameraman Mazen Dana. Dana, who was buried in his home town of Hebron on Wednesday, became the second journalist from the international agency to be killed by U.S. troops in Iraq in four months when a soldier on a tank shot him as he filmed in Baghdad on Sunday.

Reuters Group Plc Chief Executive Tom Glocer joined international media organizations in urging Rumsfeld to investigate the shooting and set in place new practices to avert a recurrence. The U.S. military said the soldier mistook Dana's camera for a grenade launcher.

"Tom Glocer has written to the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, asking for a detailed, fair and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana," Reuters said in a statement.

"He expressed his deep dismay at the death and asked that guidelines and practices are put in place to avoid any recurrence of this terrible tragedy."

Media rights organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute and Reporters Sans Frontieres have written similar letters after what has proved one of the bloodiest wars for the media.

Dana, a 41-year-old Palestinian, was known for award-winning reporting from the West Bank. He was mourned by thousands who turned out for his funeral on Wednesday.

At least 17 other international journalists and their assistants have died during the Iraq conflict. At least five, including Dana, have been killed by American fire.

On April 8, a U.S. tank shell killed Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and a cameraman from Spain's Tele 5 at Baghdad's main media center, the Palestine Hotel. Three other Reuters staff were wounded. A Pentagon report absolved soldiers who said they thought a spotter was directing enemy fire.