New York Times says reporter killed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, July 13 (Reuters) An Iraqi reporter working for the New York Times was shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad today, the newspaper said.

Khalid Hassan, 23, died a day after a photographer and driver working for Reuters were killed in the city in what witnesses said was a US helicopter attack and which police described as ''random American bombardment''.

The military described it as a firefight with insurgents.

Hassan was shot dead in the Saidiya district of southern Baghdad, the Times said in a statement. The circumstances of the attack were unclear, it said.

Hassan had phoned the bureau earlier and said his normal route to the office was blocked by a security checkpoint, the newspaper said on its Web site.

''I'm trying to find another way,'' he told the bureau staff.

About a half an hour later he called his mother, with whom he lived, telling her: ''I've been shot.'' His family later phoned the bureau to report that he had been killed, the newspaper added.

''Khalid ... was a resourceful and brave member of our news team, who met the many professional and personal challenges of his four years on our staff with enduring good humour and optimism,'' said John Burns, the paper's Baghdad bureau chief.

Iraqi police blamed U.S. military action for the deaths of Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, yesterday.

The US military said the pair died after a clash between its troops and insurgents yesterday. The incident was under investigation, it said.

Paris-based press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said the contradictory statements on the death of the two Reuters employees required investigation by the US military and Iraqi police.

''If the circumstances and responsibilities are not clearly established, suspicions will persist about the US army's involvement,'' it said in a report posted on its Web site.

Reporters Without Borders urged the Iraqi authorities to establish the exact circumstances of Hassan's death.

Besides the inherent dangers of working in a war zone, reporters are increasingly targeted by militias and militants, making it the most dangerous place in the world to report.

The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York estimated that at least 149 reporters and media assistants had been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.

With foreign reporters conspicuous kidnap targets if they venture outside their fortified compounds, most of the physical news gathering in the country is now done by Iraqis and they account for the vast majority of the casualties.

''Iraqi journalists are eyes and ears for the world; they have shown extraordinary courage and commitment in revealing the reality of life in Iraq. Too often they have paid with their lives,'' the committee said in a statement.

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