No US troops to answer for ITN journalist's killing

Dubai: The UK media and journalists greeted with dismay and criticism the announcement of the UK Crown Prosecution Service that "there is no sufficient evidence" to prosecute any US soldier over the killing of British ITN TV journalist Terry Lloyd in Iraq.

"We are appalled by that decision," a spokesman of the British National Union of Journalists, told Gulf News.

The spokesperson, who requested anonymity for legal reasons, said the Union, which represents thousands of British journalists, would issue a scathing statement on the issue.

Unlawfully killed

He pointed out that such a decision undermined the findings of the British coroner who ruled in 2006 that Lloyd, 50, was unlawfully killed in March 2003.

The Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner had made it clear at the time that the death of Lloyd, who was married with two children, "did not come about through negligence or foolhardiness".

Lloyd and his Lebanese interpreter Hussain Osman were killed on March 22, 2003 just south of Basra in southern Iraq. Their colleague, French cameraman Fred Nerac, is missing, presumed dead.

The coroner's inquest found that Lloyd was killed by a bullet to the head from an M63 machine gun fired by US Marines.

A fourth colleague, Belgian Daniel Demoustier, survived the incident and gave evidence to the coroner's inquest. The common view has been that the crew vehicle came under fire from US marines despite the fact that it was appropriately identified as "Press" and the US military commanders were made aware of their presence.

The US army was also aware that the Lloyd's group was en route to Basra, Iraq's second largest city, which has over 40 per cent of Iraq's oil reserves.

Lloyd refused to be embedded with either the British or US invasion forces arguing that that amounted to military censorship and would deprive the public of impartial reportage of the military invasion.

When US and British political and military leaders started planning for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, they insisted that reporters and journalists "must" be embedded with the advancing forces, otherwise they could not guarantee the "safety" of journalists.

That was a concern for many journalists and media organisations. Several refused to sign a "contract of reporting" with the US and UK ministries of defence.

The coroner had made it clear at the time that the death of Lloyd, who was married with two children, 'did not come about through negligence or foolhardiness'