http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=1 “When we reached the spot where Namir was killed, the people told us that two journalists had been killed in an air attack an hour earlier,” said Ahmad Sahib, the Agence France-Presse photographer, who had been traveling in a car several blocks behind Mr. Noor-Eldeen but was delayed by the chaos in the area. He said he was in touch with Mr. Noor-Eldeen by cellphone until his colleague was killed.
“They had arrived, got out of the car and started taking pictures, and people gathered,” Mr. Sahib said. “It looked like the American helicopters were firing against any gathering in the area, because when I got out of my car and started taking pictures, people gathered and an American helicopter fired a few rounds, but they hit the houses nearby and we ran for cover.”
The American military said in a statement late Thursday that 11 people had been killed: nine insurgents and two civilians. According to the statement, American troops were conducting a raid when they were hit by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The American troops called in reinforcements and attack helicopters. In the ensuing fight, the statement said, the two Reuters employees and nine insurgents were killed.
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2007/07/reuters02.htmlReuters Says Killed Photographer's Cameras Returned; Seeks Full Investigation Into Deaths
(July 17, 2007) - The two missing digital cameras of killed Reuters photojournalist Namir Noor-Eldeen have been returned to the news service, they report from Iraq, and the last pictures he took before dying in Baghdad do not show any gunmen, or people running for cover, or clashes between militants and U.S. forces.
Reuters has asked the United States to conduct a "full and objective investigation" into last week's deaths of Noor-Eldeen, 22, a photographer, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, who were killed in what witnesses have said was a U.S. helicopter attack and what Iraqi police have labeled as a "random American bombardment."
Army statements have said the two were killed as bystanders to a firefight with insurgents, and that their deaths were being investigated. The military also says nine insurgents were killed in the skirmish by U.S. troops.
Reuters views that lack of any photographs on Noor-Eldeen's cameras of insurgents, firefights, or battle as evidence that casts doubt on the military's explanation of their deaths. "Our preliminary investigation raises real questions about whether there was fighting at the time the two men were killed," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters. "For the sake of their memory and for the sake of all journalists in Iraq we need a thorough and objective investigation that will help us and the military learn lessons that will improve the safety of journalists in the future."