MIDDLE EAST

In Middle East, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud condemned severely US attacks on Iraqi civilians and foreign journalists, the Oriental Radio reported Tuesday.

The raid with missiles and shells on residential areas in Baghdad is unforgivable, Lahoud said in a statement, adding that US troops deliberately attacked the hotel where foreign journalists were living on Tuesday morning.

"Washington is afraid and it tried to prevent the media from covering what is happening in Baghdad and other cities," Lahoud said.

On the same day, Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Adwan mourned the death of Jordanian journalist Tareq Ayoub, who was killed in Baghdad while working for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV.

Ayoub died of serious injuries caused by a US air raid on its office in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Another member of Al Jazeera's Baghdad crew, Zohair al-Iraqi, was slightly wounded.

Ayoub was among three foreign journalists killed Tuesday in US military operations in Baghdad.

In a separate attack by the US forces, two cameramen, one from Reuters and one from Spanish television Telecinco, were killed after a US tank fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel, which houses most Western journalists covering the war in Iraq. Three other members of Reuters' Baghdad team were also wounded.

Similarly, Egyptian Information Minister Safwat el-Sharif condemned the killing. The state MENA news agency quoted him as denouncing the incident as "a strike against the right to knowledge and freedom of the press."

He expressed condolences over the killing of Arab and foreign correspondents who fell victims of the random shelling.

　　EUROPE

In Europe, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the killing of the three journalists in Baghdad as a possible war crime.

"There is no doubt that these attacks could be targeting journalists. If so, they are grave and serious violations of international law," said IFJ head Aidan White.

"The bombing of hotels where journalists are staying and targeting of Arab media are particularly shocking events in a war which is being launched in the name of democracy," the IFJ's secretary general said.

"Those who are responsible must be brought to justice," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) urged the warring parties to protect the safety of journalists, said spokesman of the European Commission Reijo Kemppinen.

He said that the warring parties should respect the relevant articles of the Geneva Convention and try their best to ensure safety of journalists and facilitate their work.

"We regret what happened to some journalists in Iraq and hope they would be better protected," he told reporters in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Greece expressed concern over the safety of the journalists covering the Iraq war following an attack against a Baghdad hotel.

Greek government spokesman and Media Minister Christos Protopapas said that the country's Foreign Minister George Papandreou, current head of the EU ministers' council, had been in touch with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Defense Policy Javier Solana and that the two men had agreed to jointly make a representation to the United States regarding the protection of the lives of Europeans.

The EU concerns regarding the safety of journalists covering the war in Iraq were also conveyed by Papandreou to US Assistant Secretary of State Mark Grossman in a telephone communication he had with him after Tuesday's attacks.

At the same time, the Athens Journalists' Union (ESHEA) condemned what it called "the coordinated, unprovoked and criminalattack of the American and British invaders" against the hotel, the radio and television station of Iraq, the installations of "AlJazeera" and the "Abu Dhabi TV."

It described the attack as "a new heavy blow against the right of being informed" and also condemned the "murderous attack against information and its functionaries."

Also in Europe, the Union of Portuguese journalists Tuesday condemned the attack.

"The union will protest against the US authorities, in particular before the United States Embassy in Lisbon and the Portuguese Foreign Ministry," Alfredo Maia, the president of the organization told the press.

Maia said the union "repudiates the utilized methods" and affirms that the communication professionals "are the eyes and ears of the public opinion."

Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillor recommended Tuesday the Spanish journalists covering the war in Iraq leave the country after two Spanish reporters were killed.

Trillor explained to the Spanish media the possibility of uncontrolled situations in Iraq, in which the journalists become military targets, said the Spanish Defense Ministry.

　　THE UNITED STATES

Even in the United States, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a letter on journalist casualties to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that "We believe these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions. We call on you to launch an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents and to make the findings public."

Tuesday's killing of journalists has brought the total number of media casualties to at least 12 since the US-led war on Iraq began on March 20.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2003)