US probe of Iraq shooting incomplete - media group

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

US probe of Iraq shooting incomplete - media group
By Chris Reiter

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. military cleared its soldiers in Iraq over the deaths of two journalists in 2004 without considering contradictory witness accounts, a media rights group said on Thursday.

U.S. soldiers shot and killed two Al-Arabiya broadcast journalists during a firefight at a checkpoint on March 18, 2004.

The military concluded the journalists from the network based in the United Arab Emirates were caught in cross-fire and that the troops properly followed rules of engagement.

But the Committee to Protect Journalists said, according to a report of the incident recently made public, the military did not account for statements from surviving Al-Arabiya employees that U.S. soldiers fired directly at the journalists' vehicle and that a U.S. tank briefly collided with it.

Al-Arabiya journalists also said the checkpoint where the shooting took place was not well lit, contrary to military assertions, the CPJ said.

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