US forces in Baghdad are insisting the three journalists they killed today died because the buildings they were in were legitimate targets.
Reuters cameraman Mr Taras Protsyuk and Mr Jose Couso, a cameraman from Spanish televison station Telecinco, were killed after a tank shot at the Palestine Hotel. Three other Reuters staff members were also injured in the attack.
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The hotel is one of two being used by the vast majority of western journalists covering the war from Baghdad.
In a separate incident a reporter for the Al-Jazeera news died and a cameraman was injured after the station's offices were hit. The station has accused the Americans of deliberately targetting its bureau.
But the US has denied the claim, saying it only targets legitimate military objectives. The International Federation of Journalists (IJF) said however there was "no doubt" the US attacks could be deliberately targeting journalists, which would make them a "grave and serious violation of international law".
The attack on the Palestine Hotel, the military said, was because a coalition tank had come under grenade and small arms fire from the building.
Television cameraman Mr Taras Protsyuk (35) a Ukrainian national based in Warsaw was killed instantly when the tank fired a single round into the hotel. Telecinco's Mr Jose Couso (37), a Spanish national lost a leg and suffered injuries to his jaw before later dying.
Sky News' correspondent at the hotel, Mr David Chater, said he saw an American tank on a bridge over the river with its barrel pointed directly at the Palestine just before the explosion.
"They knew we were there ... there was absolutely no mistake," Mr Chater said.
- Jose Couso, Spanish cameraman for Telecinco television, April 8th, at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad
- Tareq Ayyoub, Jordanian journalist for Al-Jazeera television, April 8th, at the Al-Jazeera office in Baghdad
- Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian television cameraman for Reuters, April 8th, at the Palestine hotel in Baghdad
- Julio Anguita Parrado, reporter for El Mundo, Spain, April 7th, south of Baghdad
- Christian Liebig, journalist for Focus weekly, Germany, April 7th, south of Baghdad
- Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, a Kurdish translator working with the BBC, April 6th, northern Iraq
- Michael Kelly, editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly magazine, United States, April 3rd, near Baghdad
- Kaveh Golestan, Iranian freelance cameraman for the BBC, April 2nd, northern Iraq
- Terry Lloyd, correspondent for Independent Television News, Britain, March 22nd, southern Iraq
- Paul Moran, freelance cameraman for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 22nd, northern Iraq
Other deaths, disappearances:
- French cameraman Fred Nerac and Lebanese translator Hussein Osman, with Independent Television News, have been missing since March 22nd in southern Iraq. They were working with ITN correspondent Terry Lloyd
- David Bloom, reporter for NBC News, United States, died April 6 from an apparent blood clot
- Gaby Rado, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, Britain, died on March 30th after apparently falling from a hotel roof in northern Iraq
Agencies