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The
U.S. tank, left, deliberately moves its turret towards a hotel
filled with journalists before firing from a bridge in Baghdad
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BAGHDAD,
April 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Following the tragic
death of three reporters earlier Tuesday, April 8, in a U.S. tank attack
on Palestine hotel - the residence of reporters - and bombing of
Al-Jazeera office, a correspondent with Abu Dhabi TV issued an SOS to
humanitarian organizations to rescue a group of journalists who are
"surrounded" by U.S. tanks in the satellite channel's Baghdad
offices.
The
correspondent, Shaker Hamed, issued the call for help on Abu Dhabi TV
saying that "25 journalists and technicians belonging to Abu Dhabi
television and Qatari satellite television channel Al-Jazeera are
surrounded in the offices of Abu Dhabi TV in Baghdad," Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"We
are surrounded in a military area where there are no civilians, with the
exception of the Abu Dhabi TV team and a five people from
Al-Jazeera," Hamed said, calling on the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) "to intervene quickly to pull us out of this
zone where missiles and shells are striking in an unbelievable
way."
The
correspondent also called for the help of the International Organization
of Journalists, Reporters Sans Frontieres and the Arab Journalists Union
to rescue them.
The
offices are on a road along the banks of the Tigris River between the
Mansur Hotel and the Iraqi planning ministry, not far from the
Republican Palace compound where fierce fighting raged between U.S. and
Iraqi troops early Tuesday.
One
of Al-Jazzera's Baghdad correspondents, Tareq Ayyoub, a cameraman for
the Reuters news agency, Taras Protsyuk, and a cameraman for Spain's
Telecinco, Jose Couso, were killed
Tuesday in American attacks.
Dubai's
Gulf News reported Tuesday that Shaker's older brother Jawad and
two of his brother's children, Hamid, 13, and 12-year-old Khulood died
in bombing by U.S. warplanes of the southern city of Nassiriya.
French
TV Exposes Deliberate Targeting
France
3 TV footage showed U.S. tanks deliberately firing at Baghdad's media
hotel killing two foreign reporters.
"They
(U.S. tanks) headed there, moved their turrets and waited at least two
minutes before opening fire," said Herve de Ploeg, the journalist
who filmed the U.S. attack.
"I
did not hear any shots in the direction of the tank, which was stationed
at the west entrance of the Al-Jumhuriya (Republic) bridge, 600 meters
(yards) northwest of the hotel," she averred.
The
French TV channel had positioned two cameras in two rooms facing the
bridge as of 6:30 am (0230 GMT).
"It
had been very quiet for a moment. There was no shooting at all. Then I
saw the turret turning in our direction and the carriage lifting. It
faced the target," said De Ploeg.
"It
was not a case of instinctive firing…I'm very specific because I was
due to go on air," she explained.
