[From the diaries by susanhu.] Rory Carroll was kidnapped today by armed men as he left an apartment in Sadr City. He had been watching the Saddam trial with an Iraqi family.
Rory, 33, graduated from Trinity College in Dublin. He was nominated best new reporter of the year in 1997 in Northern Ireland. Hired by the Guardian, he was Rome correspondent from 1999 until 2002. He has been the Guardian correspondent in Baghdad for the past nine months and scheduled to leave soon. His posts from Baghdad may be accessed here.
We in Rome hope and pray for his well-being.
As do we here. The world needs reporters who will tell the real story of what is going on in Iraq.
.
A Spanish journalist killed in US attack on Hotel Palestine in Baghdad, US Justice Department fails to cooperate in investigation. US don’t kill journalists, do they?
Al Jazeera was bombed in Kabul – live BBC report from same studio – and shelled in Baghdad, Hotel Palestine.
The channel says its guidingprinciples are "diversity of view-
points and real-time news coverage"
MADRID, Spain (CNN) Oct. 19, 2005 — A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant, charging three U.S. soldiers with murder in the death of a Spanish television cameraman in Baghdad. Jose Couso was killed as U.S. forces advanced to take control of the Iraqi capital in April 2003, a National Court spokeswoman said.
The warrant names the three soldiers as Sgt. Thomas Gibson, commander of the tank that allegedly fired a projectile at the hotel where Couso was filming; Capt. Philip Wolford, Gibson’s superior; and Lt. Col. Philip D. Camp, the captain’s superior, CNN partner network CNN+ reported.
The arrest warrant says the United States provided “no judicial cooperation” in the investigation of the cameraman’s death. Couso worked for Spain’s Telecinco national network.
Couso was shooting images of war-torn Baghdad at the Hotel Palestine on April 8, 2003, at the time of the strike. The hotel — where many international journalists were based — was hit by a tank shell. Telecinco said Couso died during surgery afterward. Taras Protsyuk, a Ukranian cameraman for Reuters, also was killed.
A Pentagon report said that the American troops had thought that an Iraqi scout was directing fire from the building and that they had not violated any rules of engagement during the incident.
Reuters cameraman TarasPortsyuk was rushed to hospital
Report Al Jazeera – read more »»
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
We arrest Mothers and spy on Grandmothers.
We hold the record of killing the most reporters during a “war”.
We have used WMD against civilians.
The entire world will hate me and my children.
Bush has painted a bullseyes on our lives and futures.
Beautifully put, Janet. I woke up at around 3am, and Saddam’s trial was on. They were talking about the first round of evidence, that he’d killed 140 civilians … and I thought, god almighty, how many have we in the U.S. killed in the last three yeasr?
Did you know him, or meet him, when he was in Rome?
This is very upsetting. I hope the British special forces can extricate him … seems to be what’s required 🙁
Rory is a great guy, quiet and brilliant, inquisitive and kind. I know there’s a great deal of fear and courage in the job he loves.
He’s so much in our hearts and minds right now. There’s so little I can say or do right now.
Oh, rom wyo,
I am so, so sorry. I know how you feel. I looked at the picture the Guardian has up and burst into tears. Rory looks so much like Danny Pearl did when I knew him.
Heartfelt prayers for him and many hugs to his friends.
Unfortunately, the situation is getting worse and worse. I just read a dispatch by Robert Fisk where he states that it’s nearly impossible to report from Iraq now without such a thing happening.
Robert Fisk: Mouse Journalism