Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

More journalists killed: Hotel Palestine in Baghdad attacked again

Reporters without borders | 24.10.2005 16:57 | Anti-militarism | Anti-racism | Repression | World

American soldiers killed journalists at this hotel before. If the american army are in Baghdad why aren't they protecting the media, and how can this hotel be attacked so many times?

The Palestine Hotel, which houses many foreign journalists in Iraq, was hit by two rockets and one car bomb Monday, causing considerable damage to rooms, Iraqi police said.

Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Spanish cameraman José Couso of Telecinco were killed by US soldiers in April 2003. Three other journalists were wounded in the attack. 100 journalists were in the Palestine Hotel when american troops attacked the Hotel.

Palestine Hotel, Baghdad: foreign journalists staying at the hotel were killed
Palestine Hotel, Baghdad: foreign journalists staying at the hotel were killed

Cameramen: Taras Protsyuk (Reuters) and José Couso (Spanish Telecinco)
Cameramen: Taras Protsyuk (Reuters) and José Couso (Spanish Telecinco)


Journalists' Hotel in Baghdad Attacked

Monday October 24, 2005 4:46 PM
AP Photo GB102

By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two enormous bombs, including a cement-mixing truck packed with explosives, blew up outside the Palestine Hotel - home to many foreign journalists - wounding at least six people and causing considerable damage. Arab satellite television networks said 11 people were killed in the vicinity of the bombs.

Associated Press Television News pictures showed the cement mixer exploding in a huge ball of flame and a cloud of smoke billowing into the central Baghdad sky.

Iraqi security officials said the explosions occurred two minutes apart, not long before Muslims marking the Islamic holy month of Ramadan were preparing to break their day-long fast. Shortly before the explosion a truck was seen coming under fire nearby, according to APTN.

Inside the hotel, light fixtures were blown out, pictures were blasted off the walls and windows were shattered.

An AP photographer at a checkpoint at the northwest corner of the hotel said at least three fellow photographers were injured and taken away by ambulance. Two TV personnel inside the hotel also sustained minor injuries.

The death toll of 11 was reported by the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera and the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya networks, quoting Iraqi security officials.

The attacks caused heavy damage to the south side of the 19-story hotel, forcing journalists, including those from AP, Fox News and the U.S. government-funded Alhurra TV station to take refuge in the corridor. Fox and Alhurra said their staff members were safe.

After the bombing, Iraqi forces opened up with heavy automatic weapons fire, apparently firing at random. There was no sign of a further assault on the hotel.

It did not appear that the car bombers managed to penetrate the high concrete blast walls around the Palestine Hotel, which was last hit by an insurgent rocket attack on Oct. 7, 2004.

Maj. Abbas Mohammed Suleiman said earlier that the hotel compound was hit by rockets and car bombs.

APTN video taken immediately after the explosions from inside the hotel showed people evacuating through damaged hallways with panels from the ceilings and walls blown out in the stairwell. Debris from the blasts was seen on the floor of one empty room, where a television set was still turned on.

The hotel has been attacked several times since the war started in March 2003. On April 8, 2003 - the day before Saddam Hussein's regime fell - U.S. tank fire killed two TV cameramen - a Spaniard and a Ukrainian - at the hotel.

The nearby Firdous Square was the site of a statue of Saddam Hussein that was toppled as Baghdad fell to the U.S.-led coalition. Concrete barriers topped with barbed wire guard the Palestine and the nearby Sheraton, which is also home to foreigners.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5366290,00.html


Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
 http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/palestine_hotel/palestine_hotel.html
Report on american killing of Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Spanish cameraman José Couso of Telecinco in 2003.


Reporters Without Borders
 http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=20
73 journalists and media assistants killed since the start of fighting in Iraq in March 2003, two still missing. Today's casualties will increase the number killed and injured who are in Iraq doing their job of reporting on the Iraqi war.
 http://www.rsf.org/special_iraq_en.php3
Cameraman: Isam Hadi Muhsin Al-Shumary
Suedostmedia, missing since 15 August 2004
Journalist: Frédéric Nérac
of ITV News (UK), missing since 22 March 2003

Reporters without borders

Comments

Display the following 11 comments

  1. only days ago - — cw
  2. Sadly Familiar ... — Neo-Fascism's Becoming Altogether Transparent
  3. Poor analysis — Not Amused
  4. But Your Response Fails — Qui Bono?
  5. Excuse me? — Not Amused
  6. Simply Exposing Your Emptiness — Why Are You Even Here?
  7. Poor Analysis and Even Poorer Debate — Not Amused
  8. Blame game — Danny
  9. Here's The Link — But Really, Why Are You Here?
  10. Ach, Read the Link Properly — Not Amused
  11. ... whilst ... — jacklucid
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech