IRAQ: Winning Over The Media

Cohen · Apr 8, 2003

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030408/80/dx9ik.html

U.S. tank fires at media hotel

LONDON (Reuters) - A British reporter based at a Baghdad hotel where five journalists have been wounded in a blast says he saw a U.S. tank aiming at the building before the explosion but heard no outgoing fire.

A U.S. general confirmed on Tuesday that a U.S. tank had fired a single round at the Palestine Hotel, where most foreign media in the Iraqi capital are based, adding that it was in response to rifle and rocket fire from the building.

Sky Correspondent David Chater, who said he was on a hotel balcony directly before the explosion, said the U.S. troops must have known the hotel was the base for foreign journalists.

"I never heard a single shot coming from any of the area around here, certainly not from the hotel," he said.

Chater said he saw a U.S. tank pointing its gun muzzle directly at the hotel and turned away just before the blast.

"I noticed one of the tanks had its barrel pointed up at the building. We went inside...and there was an almighty crash, a huge explosion that shook the hotel," he said in an on-air report, adding that he did not actually see the tank fire.

A Reuters reporter, photographer, television cameraman and television technician were taken to hospital after the blast. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.

Spanish television channel Telecino said one of its cameramen was also wounded in the blast.

"They must have seen us, they have seen us, we've seen them....there was absolutely no mistake, they knew we were there," Chater said.

"That tank shell, if it was indeed an American tank shell, was aimed directly at this hotel and directly at journalists. This wasn't an accident, it seems to be a very accurate shot."

U.S. General Buford Blount, commander of the Third Infantry Division, told Reuters near Baghdad the tank fired one round at the hotel after receiving small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from the building.

An emotional Chater described the scene after the blast as awful with people screaming and calling for a doctor.

"Standing here right now, I'm in direct line of sight of that barrel of that tank, if it lobs another shell it could land here," he said.

"It makes you realise how vulnerable you are."
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MoBalls · Apr 8, 2003

Just notice that? They have had the media in their pocket since day 1.

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IRAQ: Winning Over The Media

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