(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the forces fighting in Iraq to respect the lives of journalists following the 15 August 2004 death of freelance Iraqi newsman Mahmoud Hamid Abbas in Fallujah. Abbas worked for the German television network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF). The British news agency Reuters also reported that one of its photographers, Ali […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the forces fighting in Iraq to respect the lives of journalists following the 15 August 2004 death of freelance Iraqi newsman Mahmoud Hamid Abbas in Fallujah. Abbas worked for the German television network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF). The British news agency Reuters also reported that one of its photographers, Ali Abu al-Shich, was wounded by gunfire in Najaf on 17 August.
“This new death is another blow to media workers in Iraq, who have already had a very hard time,” RSF said, noting that Abbas was the 20th journalist killed in the country in 2004 and the 34th since the fighting began in March 2003. The organisation stressed that journalists have the right to protection in war zones under the terms of the Geneva Conventions.
Abbas, 32, was married with three children. He was killed on the road from his native Fallujah to Baghdad. He had worked for ZDF as a freelance producer for about a year and a half.
When he phoned ZDF’s Baghdad office to say he was on his way, Abbas mentioned that he had just filmed a house destroyed by United States (US) warplanes. About 25 minutes later, he phoned the office again to say he had witnessed a second attack. During the call, he suddenly said he and others with him were the target of shooting. There was a dull thud, apparently an explosion, and the line was cut off, according to ZDF’s correspondent in Iraq.
Abbas was not far from the front line between US and Iraqi rebel forces fighting in Fallujah, but there was no evidence he was targeted by a missile, rocket or bomb fired by either side. He may have been killed by criminals active in the area.
The journalist’s partly-burned body was identified by his brother among those of others killed with him or in other incidents. The bodies were found in a mosque, where they had most likely been taken after being found on the road. Abbas’s car was missing.
In a separate incident on 17 August, a Reuters photographer, Iraqi Ali Abu al-Shish, received leg wounds in shooting between US troops and supporters of rebel Shi’ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr in Najaf. The photographer was shot as he was taking pictures of a US armoured vehicle. He was taken to hospital and discharged a few hours later.
