Two Japanese journalists slain by Iraqi insurgents

REUTERS , MAHMUDIYA, IRAQ
Saturday, May 29, 2004,Page 1

Two Japanese freelance journalists were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on their vehicle south of Baghdad, their Iraqi driver told the hospital where the incinerated bodies were taken yesterday.

Hospital director Imad al-Maliki said the bodies were completely unrecognizable after the attack on Thursday afternoon, but the driver of the vehicle had told him they were the bodies of two Japanese freelance journalists.

Japan's foreign ministry, which confirmed the attack but said it did not know the fate of the Japanese, said the two involved were Shinsuke Hashida, a well-known 61-year-old freelance journalist, and his nephew, 33-year-old Kotaro Ogawa.

On Friday morning their gutted four-wheel-drive vehicle was still at the scene of the attack, its tyres burned off and its paintwork stained black by smoke. A single shoe lay in the back of the car.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2004/05/29/2003157378

things in Iraq so much it is unforgivable. These two poor souls are the latest to suffer as a result of that jerk-off Bush`s arrogant crap. I wish that CHICKENHAWK and all his cronies would be forced to serve as PVT-E1s in infantry units for the duration of the War. ...Oscar

for our freedoms.

Thanks George for breaking this all down into one dumb sound bite.

MzPip
:dem:

- maybe "someone" was just targeting foreigners. It is always thought provoking when the targets are journalists, though.
- maybe he just knew when to split from the car.
- maybe a set-up.

interesting.

REUTERS , TOKYO
Sunday, May 30, 2004,Page 5

The killing of two Japanese journalists in Iraq has re-focused attention on worsening security and could bode ill for Japanese troops helping to rebuild the Middle Eastern nation, media said yesterday.

A third body was found near where gunmen were said to have attacked a car carrying two Japanese south of Baghdad, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. It said the body may have been that of 33-year-old Kotaro Ogawa, a freelance journalist.

Earlier, two badly burned bodies had been taken to a hospital in Mahmudiya, a town 30km south of Baghdad near where Thursday's attack occurred. They were believed to be those of veteran war correspondent Shinsuke Hashida, 61, and his Iraqi translator. The journalists' Iraqi driver said the vehicle had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

Relatives of Hashida and Ogawa, his nephew, yesterday left for Kuwait, where they were to be asked to identify the bodies.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/05/30/2003157525