Three journalists killed in US strikes

Three journalists were killed and at least four were injured in three separate attacks in Baghdad by US forces on Tuesday.

Allied commanders were forced to deny that journalists were being targeted in the wake of the attacks which occurred in the space of a few hours.

The issue dominated the daily media briefing at the Allied Command Centre in Qatar when US spokesman Brigadier General Vince Brooks faced a series of questions about the incidents.

In the first attack, Tareq Ayoub was killed in an airstrike on the al-Jazeera office in the city. The office was almost completely destroyed by two missiles and another cameraman was injured, the network said.

The nearby Abu Dhabi TV office was also targeted, the station reported. A group of people were seen carrying a wounded man to a jeep belonging to Abu Dhabi TV. He was then rushed to hospital.

Soon afterwards a US tank on a bridge over the Tigris river opened fire on the Palestine Hotel, where most foreign correspondents in Baghdad have been staying.

Four employees of the Reuters news agency were injured and one, TV cameraman Taras Protsyuk, a 35-year-old Ukrainian national based in Warsaw, later died.

Spanish cameraman Jose Couso, 37, a father-of-two, also died in hospital after being wounded at the hotel, his employer Telecinco said.

"We are devastated by the death of Taras, who had distinguished himself with his highly professional coverage in some of the most violent conflicts of the past decade," said Reuters editor-in-chief Geert Linnebank.

Protsyuk leaves a widow Lidia and an eight-year-old son Denis.

Lebanese-born Samia Nakhoul and Iraqi photographer Faleh Kheiber were both treated for facial and head wounds and concussion after the attack, the agency said.

Television satellite dish co-ordinator Paul Pasquale, from Britain, was taken to hospital with leg injuries but doctors said he was not in danger.

US forces said the attack on the al-Jazeera office was a mistake.

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