DID U.S. SOLDIERS IN IRAQ SEIZE EMBARRASSING NEWS FOOTAGE?

U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan confiscated photos and video taken by news photographers and TV cameramen that could shed light on claims by Afghan civilians that American troops angrily shot at civilian vehicles in anger after a suicide-bomb attack, according to published reports. As many as 16 civilians may have been killed, the reports said. The New York Times blog The Lede quoted Khanwali Kamran of Afghanistan's Ariana Television as saying that American soldiers deleted his footage after telling him that if it was aired, he would "face problems." Taqiula Taqi, a reporter for Tol TV, told the Associated Press that he was ordered by American troops to delete his footage. "They said, 'Delete them, or we will delete you,'" he said. Meanwhile, in Paris, Jean-François Julliard of the international organization Reporters sans Frontières issued a statement asking, "Why did the soldiers do it if they don't have anything to hide? The situation is very tense in Afghanistan, and the media should be able to report about it freely and safely."

06/03/2007