- (AFP) -- A US military investigation has concluded that
the crew of a US tank acted properly when it fired on a Baghdad hotel filled
with foreign journalists April 8, killing two television cameramen, the
US Central Command said.
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- The tank fired at the Palestine Hotel after soldiers
observed what they believed to be an enemy "hunter/killer team"
directing Iraqi fire from a balcony on an upper floor of the hotel, the
command said in a statement summarizing the findings.
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- The investigation "concludes that a tank from A
Company, 4-64 Armor properly fired upon a suspected enemy hunter/killer
team in a proportionate and justifiably measured response," the statement
said.
-
- "The action was fully in accordance with the rules
of engagement."
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- A Ukrainian cameraman for Reuters television, 35-year-old
Taras Protsyuk, and a Spaniard working for the Spanish television network
Telecinco, 37-year-old Jose Couso, were killed by the shell blast.
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- Three other Reuters television journalists were wounded
in the incident, which came amid heavy fighting in downtown Baghdad.
-
- The Central Command called the incident a "tragedy"
and said "the United States has the deepest sympathies for the families
of those who were killed."
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- Recounting the events that led up to it, the command's
summary said A Company had been attempting to seize an intersection that
controlled a bridge across the Tigris in central Baghdad and had been under
heavy fighting for hours with Iraqi forces.
-
- Transmissions from a captured Iraqi radio indicated that
the company was being observed by an enemy spotter who was directing enemy
forces and fires in their direction from a location across the river, the
command said.
-
- "While still under heavy mortar, (rocket-propelled
grenade) and missile fire, the A Company commander directed his people
to scan the buildings to try to find the enemy observer," the summary
said.
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- "A company personnel observed what they believed
to be an enemy hunter/killer team on the balcony of a room on the upper
floors of a large tan-colored building.
-
- "They also witnessed flashes of light, consistent
with enemy fire, coming from the same general location as the building."
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- The tank fired a single 120 mm round at the position,
it said.
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- "Immediately following that, monitored transmissions
indicated that the enemy observer was taking fire and coordinated enemy
fire directed at A Company ceased," the command said.
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- "It was only some time after the incident that A
Company became aware of the fact that the building they fired on was the
Palestine Hotel and that journalists at the hotel had been killed or injured
as a result
-
- "However, intelligence reports also indicated that
the enemy used portions of the hotel as a base of operations and that heavy
enemy activity was occurring in those areas in and immediately around the
hotel," it said.
-
- In the immediate aftermath of the attack, US military
officials said the tank was returning hostile fire from the hotel. But
journalists at the hotel disputed that account.
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- In Kiev, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said it had been
informed of the investigation's findings.
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- "According to the American side, ... the shot was
fired in self-defense and in complete conformity with the rules of combat,"
said ministry spokesman Markian Loubkivski, citing the US report.
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- "The American tank acted in response to information
concerning the presence at the hotel of a spotter who was coordinating
the Iraqi fire."
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- A separate investigation by the Committee to Protect
Journalists, a watchdog group, concluded in May that the attack, "while
not deliberate, was avoidable."
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- Pentagon officials and military commanders on the ground
in Baghdad knew the hotel was full of journalists, but failed to warn the
tank's commander, the committee said.
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