View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
October 19, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 9:29pm

IFJ on Lloyd: ‘If this was murder as the court suggests, it is certainly a war crime’

By Press Gazette

Tony Blair is facing MPs' demands to ensure that US Marines are tried in a British court for the murder of ITN journalist Terry Lloyd.

The cross-party NUJ parliamentary group is pressing the Government to respond to the ruling by the Oxfordshire coroner that the 50-year old reporter was unlawfully killed while reporting the Iraq war.

Meetings are being sought with Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and Defence Secretary Des Browne, ministers are to be questioned in Parliament, and, unless it is ruled sub judice, other MPs will be invited to sign a Commons motion urging Government action.

John McDonnell, secretary of the NUJ parliamentary group, said: "We are going to the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office to say as strongly as we possibly can that this Government needs to act to secure justice."

The International Federation of Journalists has called on the US to "tell the whole truth" about the deaths of 19 media staff in Iraq, including Lloyd.

IFJ general secretary Aidan White said: "If this was murder as the court suggests and the US is responsible, it is certainly a war crime."

Lloyd was killed, together with Lebanese interpreter Hussein Osman and French cameraman Fred Nerac, near the Shatt al Basra Bridge outside Iraq's second city of Basra in March 2003.

Content from our partners
Free journalism awards for journalists under 30: Deadline today
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition

The inquest heard that he was shot in the back after getting caught up in US and Iraqi crossfire, then shot in the head by US forces as he was taken away in a minibus for medical treatment.

White said of the coroner's verdict: "This decision gets us one step closer to bringing Terry Lloyd's killers to justice.

"It also signals that it is now time for the US to abandon its policy of cover-up and tell the whole truth about other cases where media staff died in unexplained circumstances at the hands of its soldiers.

"So long as the US remains indifferent and refuses to explain the actions of its soldiers in these killings, there will be speculation about deliberate targeting of media staff."

Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker said he would write to the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions "to see whether any steps can be taken to bring the perpetrators responsible for this to justice".

Walker said: "I have no doubt that it was an unlawful act to fire on this minibus."

The minibus had stopped and turned around to pick up survivors, and was facing away from the US tanks.

Walker said: "If the vehicle was perceived as a threat, it would have been fired on before it did a U-turn. This would have resulted in damage to the front of the vehicle."

Following the verdict, Lloyd's daughter, Chelsey, said: "We call on the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to commence proceedings to bring the soldiers, including their commanding officers, to justice."

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network