Spain's media vents anger over deaths

Spain's media vents anger over deaths

Much of the Spanish population opposed the war

Spanish journalists have snubbed the UK foreign minister and his Spanish counterpart in protest at the deaths of three journalists, including a Spanish cameraman, in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Jose Couso, a cameraman who worked for the Spanish network Tele 5, died alongside a Ukrainian cameraman on Tuesday.

An American tank apparently shelled the Palestine hotel, which housed hundreds of journalists covering the Iraq war.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, was also the target of a protest in parliament, when a dozen Spanish photographers turned their backs on him and raised pictures of Mr Couso, to the cheers of opposition lawmakers.

Although Spain has not committed any troops to the war in Iraq, Mr Aznar supported the invasion and is seen as a central member in the "coalition of the willing" - to the dismay of much of Spanish public opinion.

'Murder'

The journalists' deaths incensed media and rights groups across the world, after some reports suggested it was an unprovoked attack.

Russian, Arab, Spanish and Mexican media were among the most vitriolic, with the Mexican newspaper El Universal headlining its front page: "The US is now murdering journalists".

Journalists downed tools in protest

US Vice President Dick Cheney has brushed off suggestions that the journalists were deliberately targeted, telling US newspaper editors "you'd have to be an idiot to believe that".

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw found himself embroiled in the tensions when, at a news conference with his Spanish counterpart Ana Palacio, some 20 Spanish journalists walked out after just one question.

Ms Palacio had been asked about reports that US forces had declared the journalists' hotel a target 48 hours before the strike, but - according to the AP news agency - answered evasively.

In another protest, Mr Anzar arrived at parliament to find photographic and radio equipment strewn on the ground as 30 or 40 journalists downed their tools. They met him in stony silence.

Protests were also held outside the US Embassy in Madrid, and in other Spanish cities.

ARAB RESPONSE

Arab media incensed

Mr Aznar's Defence Minister, Federico Trillo, called the attack "a very serious mistake".

Meanwhile, colleagues of the al-Jazeera correspondent Tarek Ayoub gathered to mourn his death after the al-Jazeera office in Baghdad was bombed by the US in a separate incident on Tuesday.

At al-Jazeera headquarters in Doha, Qatar, prayers were said, while colleagues in Amman, Jordan, protested "the death of journalism" by carrying a camera on a stretcher.

The US branch of Amnesty International also added its voice to protests on Wednesday.

"Unless the US can demonstrate that the Palestine Hotel had been used for military purposes, it was a civilian object protected under international humanitarian law that should not have been attacked," it said.