The Death of Terry Lloyd

[John Simkin]

A coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on ITN reporter Terry Lloyd, who was shot dead by US forces in southern Iraq in March 2003.

An inquest heard Lloyd was killed by a US bullet near Basra. Lloyd was hit while in a makeshift ambulance, having already been hurt in American-Iraqi crossfire. The coroner is to ask the attorney general to consider pressing charges.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said Terry Lloyd's killing was a "war crime" and this was echoed by Mr Lloyd's widow, Lyn. In a statement she said: "This was a very serious war crime, how else can firing on a vehicle in these circumstances be interpreted? This was not a friendly fire incident or a crossfire incident, it was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act, particularly as it came many minutes after the initial exchange. US forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to behave like trigger happy cowboys in an area where civilians were moving around."

The truth is that he was targeted Lloyd because he refused to be embedded with US troops. Lloyd was not willing to report US propaganda. He wanted to find out what was really happening during the invasion. Killing Lloyd was a warning to other journalists who wanted to provide objective accounts of the war.