US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds.

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Last Update: Friday, October 13, 2006. 10:20pm (AEST)

US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds

A British inquest has ruled one of Britain's most experienced journalists was unlawfully killed by US soldiers in Iraq, prompting calls for the perpetrators to be tried for war crimes.

Veteran war correspondent Terry Lloyd, 50, who worked for British television company ITN, was killed in March 2003 in southern Iraq as he reported from the front line during the first few days of the US-led invasion.

"He was fired on by American soldiers as a minibus carried wounded people away," Coroner Andrew Walker said at the conclusion of the inquest, which US soldiers declined to attend.

"I have no doubt it was an unlawful act of fire on the minibus."

Mr Walker says he intends to write to the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions in an effort to bring those responsible for Lloyd's death before a British court.

Louis Charalambous, the Lloyd family's lawyer, says those responsible for his death should be brought to trial, for what he termed "a very serious war crime."

"It was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act," he added.

He says the unlawful killing verdict had been "inescapable" and has come about because "US forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger-happy cowboys."

Mr Charalambous says the Marines who fired on Lloyd, and their superiors, should stand trial for murder - a sentiment echoed by Lloyd's employers.

David Mannion, the company's editor-in-chief, says ITN will support any moves to bring those "responsible for Terry's death to account before a court of law."

Lloyd, who had reported from Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo during his award-winning career, was initially wounded in the stomach.

He was then shot in the head by US troops after he had been picked up and put in an Iraqi minibus, the court heard.

His translator, Hussein Othman, was also killed while French cameraman Fred Nerac, is still missing believed dead.

The other cameraman, Daniel Demoustier, was the only one to survive.

-Reuters

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1764729.htm

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He was in an enemy vehicle and was killed by live fire.

That's only a war crime in the eye of those sympathetic with the enemy.

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Re: US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds

msolga wrote:

... Lloyd, who had reported from Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo during his award-winning career, was initially wounded in the stomach.

He was then shot in the head by US troops after he had been picked up and put in an Iraqi minibus, the court heard. .....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1764729.htm

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Re: US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds

msolga wrote:

... Lloyd, who had reported from Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo during his award-winning career, was initially wounded in the stomach.

He was then shot in the head by US troops after he had been picked up and put in an Iraqi minibus, the court heard. .....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1764729.htm

0 Replies

Re: US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds

msolga wrote:

... Lloyd, who had reported from Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Kosovo during his award-winning career, was initially wounded in the stomach.

He was then shot in the head by US troops after he had been picked up and put in an Iraqi minibus, the court heard. .....

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1764729.htm

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So?

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From the (UK) Guardian Unlimited:

..... Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire, said he would take steps to see if the soldiers responsible could be brought to justice.

"Having carefully taken into account all the evidence I am satisfied so that I am sure that had this killing taken place under English Law it would have constituted an unlawful homicide," Mr Walker said, making his ruling after a six-day inquest in Oxford.

"I shall write to the attorney general and the director of public prosecutions with a view to considering the appropriate steps to bring the persons involved in this incident to justice."

Mr Walker said he was recording a verdict of unlawful killing because Lloyd had been fatally wounded when he was being rescued by a civilian minibus in full view of American tanks.

There was no justification of self defence, he said, as there would have been earlier when the Americans were firing against Iraqi forces. It was only after the minibus stopped to pick up the wounded, including Lloyd, that the Americans opened fire, the coroner added. .....

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1921611,00.html

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"The coroner said Friday that a civilian drove up in a minivan, pulled a U-turn and picked up four wounded Iraqi soldiers, then saw Lloyd with a press card around his neck and helped him into the van. Lloyd was shot in the head as the van drove off toward a hospital, the coroner said."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRITAIN_REPORTER_INQUEST?SITE=MIDTF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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cjhsa wrote:

He was in an enemy vehicle and was killed by live fire.

That's only a war crime in the eye of those sympathetic with the enemy.

So, Iraqis are the enemy. Wait. What?

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Those sympathetic with the enemy disgust me.

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Apologies for the multiple posts. I'm having all sorts of A2K problems here.

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cjhsa wrote:

Those sympathetic with the enemy disgust me.

Those condoning criminal behavior disgust me.

Who, exactly, is showing sympathy for the enemy? And how?

Seems to me, this whole problem stems from the inability to tell friend from foe from neutral observer.

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But, boys will be boys, and eggs and omelets, and all that. Right?

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cjhsa wrote:

Those sympathetic with the enemy disgust me.

The enemy?
But I thought the US was there to bring "democracy & freedom" to Iraq!

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cjhsa wrote:

Those sympathetic with the enemy disgust me.

You know the coroner and/or his political views?

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DrewDad wrote:

Those condoning criminal behavior disgust me.

What criminal behaviour, exactly?

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Gung ho!

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The Times:

Quote:

Concluding the inquest, Mr Walker praised the dedication and professionalism of the ITN reporter and said no blame should be put on to ITN News over its preparations before the mission to Iraq.

Mr Walker said it was his view that the American tanks had been first to open fire on the two TV trucks and an Iraqi pick-up vehicle with mounted machine gun that had intercepted them.

He added that had Mr Lloyd died following a shot fired in the first stage of fighting, even though he was travelling in a clearly-marked TV vehicle, he would have conceded that the American act was one of "self-defence" and would not consider it an unlawful act

But he said that the first wound Mr Lloyd received "was, with appropriate skilled medical attention, survivable" - and in fact the Americans had opened fire on the minibus even though it "presented no threat to American forces" since it was a civilian vehicle, had stopped and turned around to pick up survivors, and was facing away from the US tanks.

Mr Walker added: "If the vehicle was perceived as a threat, it would have been fired on before it did a U-turn. This would have resulted in damage to the front of the vehicle. "I have no doubt it was the fact that the vehicle stopped to pick up survivors that prompted the Americans to fire on that vehicle."

Speaking outside the inquest in Oxford, this morning, Mr Lloyd's family and a Belgian cameraman, Daniel Demoustier, who survived the exchange, demanded justice.

In a statement read by Louis Charalambous, a family solicitor,, the reporter's widow Lyn said: "This was a very serious war crime, how else can firing on a vehicle in these circumstances be interpreted?

"The evidence on how Terry Lloyd was unlawfully killed has shown that 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. The Marines who fired on civilians and, importantly, those who gave the orders, should now stand trial.

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msolga wrote:

DrewDad wrote:
Those condoning criminal behavior disgust me.

What criminal behaviour, exactly?

Shooting a bus carrying wounded people?

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DrewDad wrote:

msolga wrote:
DrewDad wrote:
Those condoning criminal behavior disgust me.

What criminal behaviour, exactly?

Shooting a bus carrying wounded people?

Q: How do you tell the difference between a minivan and an Iraqi military vehicle?

A: You can't.

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US troops unlawfully killed UK journalist, coroner finds.

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