Call for an in-depth investigation into death of Iraqi TV producer

Reporters Without Borders expressed outrage at the murder on 28 June in Baghdad of Iraqi TV producer Wael Al Bakri in a US Army shooting. It urged the army to show greater judgement and to hold a thorough and transparent investigation. Al Bakri, 30, a producer on privately-owned al-Sharqiya television, was killed at the wheel of his car when he drove too close to a US military convoy. He produced a variety programme and another dealing with life's everyday problems. His death brings to 60 the number of journalists and other media workers killed in Iraq since the start of the conflict in March 2003. "It is not the first time that US soldiers have targeted a journalist, after wrongly concluding that his vehicle could be booby-trapped," said the worldwide press freedom organisation. "We urge the US Army to show judgement and vigilance to avoid such unacceptable shooting blunders. An investigation should be opened urgently, not with the aim of whitewashing the army but with the readiness to shed light on this death," it said. The spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division based in Baghdad told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on 29 June that one of the US units was implicated in the death of Wael al Bakri and an investigation had been opened. ------------------------------------------------- 29.06.05 IRAQ TV producer killed and a documentary maker and a cameramen arrested Reporters Without Borders has called for information about the arrest of a documentary-maker and of his cameraman, of whom there has been no news since early May, and the murder of a local TV producer shot dead at the wheel of his car on 28 June. Cyrus Kar, a US national of Iranian origin and his Iranian cameraman Farshid Faraji, were both arrested in Iraq on 2 May 2005 while making a documentary entitled, "In search of Darius the Great". Ahmed Wael Al Bacri, producer on local al-Charkiya television died at the wheel of his car while he was returning to his home in Baghdad. "We ask for light to be shed on the circumstances of the arrest of documentary-maker Cyrus Kar and his cameraman Farshid Faraji. The US and Iraqi authorities should quickly investigate to find out the reasons for their detention," the organisation said, adding, "We are particularly worried Faraji about whom we have had no news since his arrest on 2 May. "We have found out that Kar was seen in a US Army vehicle. It is not the first time that US forces have arbitrarily detained journalists in Iraq. The extremely sensitive context in the country does not justify this detention and it is important the US forces continue to respect the work of journalists." "We demand the full truth about this case and the murder of Ahmed Wael Al Bacr. We ask the competent authorities to take all necessary steps to investigate the circumstances of his death. Iraqi journalists are frequently the target of attacks and pay a high price for reporting the news," the organisation added. After filming the first part of their documentary in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkey, Kar and Faraji went to Iraq after receiving permission to film there from both the American and Iraqi governments. Iraqi police arrested them shortly after they arrived in Baghdad. After finding that Kar was a US national they handed him over to the US Army. He has since been held in a detention centre, Camp Cropper, close to Baghdad airport. The FBI searched his home and made him take a lie-detector test. Despite this he is still being held by the US Army, who have given out no information about him. Nothing has been heard of Faraji since he was arrested. His name does not appear on the lists of prisoners drawn up by the Red Cross in Iraq.