Iraqi cameraman killed in clash between US, rebels

RAMADI (Reuters) – An Iraqi television cameraman was killed
in clashes between Sunni rebels and U.S. forces in the
insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Tuesday, witnesses said on
Wednesday.

Mahmoud Za’al, who worked for Baghdad TV satellite channel,
was filming an attack on two buildings occupied by U.S. forces
in Ramadi when he was wounded in the legs and then killed
moments later in a U.S. air strike, witnesses told Reuters.

Baghdad TV, which is owned by the biggest Sunni political
grouping, the Iraqi Islamic Party, confirmed Za’al’s death and
said it was investigating the circumstances.

The U.S. military said it was checking the report.

Witnesses said at noon on Tuesday gunmen began firing
mortar rounds at the governorate directorate building and the
Iraqi Nationality Department, both bases for U.S. forces.

The gunmen also blasted the buildings with heavy
machineguns and rocket propelled grenades, they said.

“When they got very close to these buildings, helicopters
and other military planes started shooting at them,” one
witness said.

“The cameraman was in the streets to film the clashes when
he was wounded, first in his legs, and then when U.S. planes
started shooting he was killed.”

Doctor Hamdi al-Alusi at Ramadi Hospital said two civilians
were killed and three wounded, including a woman and a 10-year-
old child, in the violence. He did not know whether any gunmen
or U.S. soldiers had been killed or wounded.

U.S. forces in Ramadi called in air strikes last Friday to
repulse an insurgent attack. The rebel assault coincided with
the release of the results of the December 15 parliamentary
poll, which confirmed the dominance of Shi’ite Islamists.

Iraq remains the most dangerous place for journalists. Some
60 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led
invasion in March 2003, according to the media watchdog the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). At least 41 of those
were Iraqi, the CPJ said in a recent report.

A cameraman working for Reuters, Dhia Najim, was shot dead
during fighting between U.S. Marines and insurgents on November
1 last year. The exact circumstances of his killing have never
been clarified despite requests to the U.S. military from
Reuters.

Many journalists have also been taken hostage; some have
been killed by their abductors but most have been released
unharmed. American journalist Jill Carroll was kidnapped in
Baghdad on January 7 and is still missing.