Monday, March 14, 2011

Al-Jazeera cameraman chased and shot dead by Gaddafi regime supporters


Arabic station says cameraman was shot dead in ambush near Benghazi after reporting on Libya protests

The Guardian

"An al-Jazeera cameraman who died in eastern Libya was hunted down and ambushed by forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, according to sources at the broadcaster.

Ali Hassan al-Jaber was among a team from the network's Arabic station attacked as they returned to the rebel-held city of Benghazi on Saturday.

In an official statement, al-Jazeera said the group were ambushed, and it condemned "the cowardly crime, which comes as part of the Libyan regime's malicious campaign targeting al-Jazeera and its staff".

It said the group had been returning from a nearby town after reporting on an opposition protest. Sources at al-Jazeera told the Guardian that Gaddafi loyalists followed the journalists from the protest scene and sprayed their vehicle with bullets. Al-Jazeera discounted earlier reports that they were lured to an interview under false pretences.

Jaber, a Qatari national, was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries. Another al-Jazeera journalist was wounded....."

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