] In Baghdad, an Al Jazeera reporter is fatally wounded at
] the TV outlet's office, and two cameramen die at
] Palestine Hotel.
]
] By John Daniszewski
]
] Times Staff Writer
]
]
] April 9, 2003
]
]
] BAGHDAD -- The slender illusion of safety for journalists
] in the Iraqi capital was shattered Tuesday as a reporter
] and two cameramen were killed -- all by American fire.
]
]
] There have been a range of fears for journalists here
] since the beginning of the war, from U.S. bombs to the
] wrath of hard-core Iraqi loyalists to the chaos that
] could erupt in the event of a power vacuum. But the
] Palestine Hotel, on the east bank of the Tigris River,
] had been seen by journalists as a sanctuary.
]
]
] And because of that, the erratic elevators and the
] absence of hot water and electricity in the rooms -- not
] to mention the occasional cockroach -- were endured as
] nuisances in covering the Iraqi side of the war. With its
] seedy demeanor, it was much like the old Commodore Hotel
] in Beirut, where journalists flocked in the 1970s and
] '80s because they believed they would be safe even in the
] face of civil war and Israeli attacks on the Lebanese
] capital.
]
]
] Journalists working in wartime often concoct rationales
] to convince themselves they'll be safe. They make rules
] such as not going out after dark and always wearing a
] flak jack