US forces killed ITN man in Iraq
A coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on ITN reporter Terry Lloyd, who was shot dead by US forces in southern Iraq in March 2003. An inquest heard Mr Lloyd was killed by a US bullet near Basra. His interpreter died and his cameraman is missing. The inquest also heard that Mr Lloyd, 50 and originally from Derby, was hit while in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt in American-Iraqi crossfire. Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said he would also be writing to the director of public prosecutions asking for him to investigate the possibility of bringing charges.
'War crime'
Mr Lloyd's Lebanese interpreter, Hussein Osman, was also killed and French cameraman Fred Nerac is still officially classed as missing, presumed dead. Belgian cameraman Daniel Demoustier was the ITN crew's only survivor. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said Mr Lloyd's killing was a "war crime" and this was echoed by Mr Lloyd's widow, Lyn.
In a statement she said: "This was a very serious war crime, how else can firing on a vehicle in these circumstances be interpreted? This was not a friendly fire incident or a crossfire incident, it was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act, particularly as it came many minutes after the initial exchange. US forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger happy cowboys in an area where civilians were moving around."
His daughter Chelsey said: "The killing of my father would seem to amount to murder, which is deeply shocking."
click here for the edited video
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I remember this incident well and when I heard that american forces had only given an edited video of the incident to the public it seemed obvious that they were covering something up.
The questions are, of course, how far up the ladder the responsibility goes, and exactly how many other people have been murdered (as opposed to being killed in a "legitimate" battle) by soldiers.
