There appears to have been some liberal quoting going on, early in the story of missing journalist Terry Llyod and his news team. One cameraman escaped to safety – but there are conflicting reports on what happened. Sky News tells the story here.
What Daniel Demoustier is saying is that they came under fire from UK tanks and small arms.
Demoustier told her they had been fired on by tanks from the coalition forces at Iman Anas, while they were trying to drive away from a group of Iraqi soldiers.
“Immediately the allied tanks started heavy firing directly at us. Rounds were coming straight at the Jeep, smashing the windows and puncturing holes in the bodywork,” he is quoted as saying.
It should be noted that Terry Llyod was a unilateral – not embedded with any military force.
Sky News then says:
MoD sources have said the ITN group had gone through several checkpoints where they had been warned to turn back but instead they chose to carry on.
I have read counter claims to this by Daniel – he said they were waved through without problem.
And quotes the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
“They went into an area against the advice of the military. We wouldn’t deliberately target journalists.”
Of course we all know what Kate Adie said about this before the war started – that journalists would indeed be fired on.
I wonder whether this was an honest mistake – their vehicles were clearly marked ‘TV’. I wonder also if we will ever know the full story.