The head of the world's biggest journalists' organisation said a US bomb and missileattack on Iraqi television this morning was an attempt at censorship and may have breached the Geneva Conventions.
"I think there should be a clear international investigation into whether or not this bombing violates the Geneva Conventions," Mr Aidan White, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), told reporters.
"We have every reason to believe this is an act ofcensorship against media that US politicians and militarystrategists don't like," he said.
A US official in Washington earlier said the raid had hitthe main television station, a key telecommunications vault andBaghdad satellite communications, damaging the government'scommand and control capability.
Human rights group Amnesty International also on Wednesdaycondemned the attack on Iraqi television, saying it mightconstitute a war crime.
"The bombing of a television station simply because it isbeing used for the purposes of propaganda is unacceptable,"Amnesty's Senior Director for International Law Claudio Cordonesaid in a statement.
"Attacking a civilian object and carrying out adisproportionate attack are war crimes," he added.White said US strikes would have targeted televisionearlier if it had been a military target.
"There is no question that this attack reflects the angerand frustration of political leaders in the United States overthe showing of prisoners on television and the use of televisionto boost the morale of Saddam Hussein supporters," said White.
"This is the only credible explanation for this attack."He said the IFJ, which represents more than 500,000journalists in 100 countries, believed there was no militaryjustification for the raid, which recalled NATO's bombing ofRadio Television Serbia during the Kosovo war three years ago."Once again, we see military and political commanders fromthe democratic world targeting a television network simplybecause they don't like the message it gives out," he said.
Despite the attack, Iraqi television came on air at about 9a.m. (0600 GMT), and state radio was also broadcasting normally.Iraq's 24-hour international satellite television channel ceasedbroadcasting during the raids but came back on air at about 0920GMT with patriotic songs.
The IFJ said international law forbade attacks on televisionand radio stations unless they were used for military purposes,and there was no evidence this was the case in Iraq.
Nor did the IFJ believe television broadcasts could includecoded messages to the Iraqi army. "The idea that Iraqi soldiersare sitting in the desert watching television to get theirorders is absurd," White said.