US Troops Go On Rampage, Kill Danish Soldier and Reuters Photographer In Drive By Shooting

"Palestinian cameraman Mazen Dana, working for the British news agency Reuters, during a demonstration calling for the end of the killing of journalists by the Israeli army in the West Bank town of Hebron. Dana, 41, was shot dead outside the infamous Abu Gharib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. "Eyewitnesses say he was shot by American soldiers"

"Iraqis pass by a graffiti written by US troops after they erased other ones against them in Ramadi"

There were many journalists around. They knew we were journalists. This was not an accident"

Reuters quoted soundman Nael al-Shyoukhi, who was with Dana, as saying that the US soldiers "saw us and they knew about our identities and our mission.

"After we filmed we went into the car and prepared to go when a convoy led by a tank arrived and Mazen stepped out of the car to film. I followed him and Mazen walked three to four metres. We were noted and seen clearly," al-Shyoukhi said.

"A soldier on the tank shot at us. I lay on the ground. I heard Mazen and I saw him scream and touching his chest.

"I cried at the soldier, telling him 'You killed a journalist.' They shouted at me and asked me to step back and I said 'I will step back but please help, please help and stop the bleed.' "

He said they tried to help him but Dana was bleeding heavily.

"Mazen took a last breath and died before my eyes."

"Mazen was one of Reuters' finest cameramen and we are devastated by his loss. He was a brave and an award winning journalist who had worked in many of the world's hotspots," said Stephen Jukes, Reuters' global head of news, in a statement.

Dana's death brings to 13 the number of journalists who have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war on March 20. Two Independent Television News journalists, cameraman Fred Nerac of France and translator Hussein Osman of Lebanon, have been missing since a shooting incident in southern Iraq on March 22, in which correspondent Terry Lloyd was killed.

An outspoken critic of the Israeli government's treatment of journalists, Dana was honoured by the Committee to Protect Journalists with an International Press Freedom Award in November 2001 for his work covering conflict in his hometown of Hebron in the West Bank. He was shot at least three times in 2000, according to the citation on the group's website.

Dana was married and had four children.

"Words and images are a public trust and for this reason I will continue with my work regardless of the hardships, even if it costs me my life," Dana said after accepting the award.

"He was committed to covering the story wherever it was and he was an inspiration to friends and colleagues at Reuters and throughout the industry," said Jukes.

Abbas, the driver, recalled how Dana was telling al-Shyoukhi of the war stories he had covered over the years.

"He said he wanted to take a shot of the prison from a house with a vantage point. Nael told him to be careful because of the Americans. Mazen said he wasn't too worried as long as they don't shoot him."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/18/1061059786862.html

International media rights bodies have called on the US to launch a full inquiry into the killing of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana, who was shot dead by US troops in Iraq.

The calls by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, RSF) in Paris follow that of Reuters Chief Executive Tom Glocer who called for "the fullest and most comprehensive investigation into this terrible tragedy".

The World and the USA must demand an end to this war that was built on lies and misleading information by incompetent President Bush. Why he has not been impeached by now is a reflection of the non-Democratic and immoral powers controlling the United States. Too many people are dying for oil. We need to stop the madness.

The World and the USA must demand an end to this war that was built on lies and misleading information by incompetent President Bush. Why he has not been impeached by now is a reflection of the non-Democratic and immoral powers controlling the United States. Too many people are dying for oil. We need to stop the madness.

I also question why mad men like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest are in occupying our public office and abusing our national resources for personal gains?

Why the crimes committed by the Bush gang go unpunished for their crimes?

Why our news media have been commenting and not reporting of what's really happening?

Why so many American are ignorant or don't care about what's happening?

I can only come up one answer. The powerful Republican party and conglomerate.