Vienna, 18 August 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Two international press watchdog groups have called on the United States to investigate the killing yesterday in Iraq of a Reuters news agency journalist. In a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Vienna-based International Press Institute urged "a full and transparent" investigation into the shooting of cameraman Mazen Dana by U.S. soldiers.
From New York, Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Ann Cooper said in a letter the group also wants a full investigation and public accounting.
In Washington yesterday, a military spokesman, U.S. Navy Captain Frank Thorp, said the soldiers killed Dana because they mistook the camera he pointed at them for a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher.
From New York, Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Ann Cooper said in a letter the group also wants a full investigation and public accounting.
In Washington yesterday, a military spokesman, U.S. Navy Captain Frank Thorp, said the soldiers killed Dana because they mistook the camera he pointed at them for a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher.