Saturday, February 24, 2007
Iraqi Union for Journalists demands apology for raid
Security, Media
(AP) The Iraqi Union for Journalists said Friday it has demanded an apology and compensation for a U.S.-led raid on the group's headquarters this week. The U.S. military insisted American troops were not involved. International journalism advocacy groups also expressed outrage over the raid, which occurred Monday in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Waziriyah, a predominantly Sunni area.
Reporters Without Borders said a U.S. Army mobile unit fired at the headquarters after seeing armed guards, then Iraqi soldiers stormed onto the premises, detained the guards and seized computer equipment. The chairman of the union, Shihab al-Timimi, said he had written to U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi leaders to demand an apology and compensation because the unit broke furniture and other equipment when it stormed into the building.
Khalilzad's spokesman Lou Fintor said the allegations were being taken "very seriously" but that preliminary information indicated "there were no Multinational Forces-Iraq related operations in the vicinity of the Iraqi Journalists' Union during the timeframe described." U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver also said the raid was not conducted by American forces. Al-Timimi insisted U.S. troops were involved, saying "they were accompanied by a translator as well."
Reporters Without Borders said a U.S. Army mobile unit fired at the headquarters after seeing armed guards, then Iraqi soldiers stormed onto the premises, detained the guards and seized computer equipment. The chairman of the union, Shihab al-Timimi, said he had written to U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi leaders to demand an apology and compensation because the unit broke furniture and other equipment when it stormed into the building.
Khalilzad's spokesman Lou Fintor said the allegations were being taken "very seriously" but that preliminary information indicated "there were no Multinational Forces-Iraq related operations in the vicinity of the Iraqi Journalists' Union during the timeframe described." U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver also said the raid was not conducted by American forces. Al-Timimi insisted U.S. troops were involved, saying "they were accompanied by a translator as well."
Labels: Iraqi Union for Journalists, raid, Shihab al-Timimi
