Three journalists were killed as a result of shelling directed at a Baghdad hotel and the Al-Jazeera TV office in the Iraqi capital today.
A cameraman for the Telecinco Spanish TV service died this afternoon after being injured when a US tank fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel.
Jose Couso, 37, had lost a leg and suffered injuries to his jaw.
A hole was knocked in the facade of an upper floor of the hotel, which is used by foreign media workers, causing damage to offices used by Reuters news agency and Dubai's Al-Arabiya TV channel.
In total, four Reuters staff were injured in the attack. Mr Couso and 35-year-old Ukrainian-born cameraman, Taras Protsyuk, died later.
A correspondent for Al-Jazeera also died of his injuries following a strike on the station's Baghdad offices. A cameraman was hit in the neck by shrapnel in the blast.
Another Arab service, Abu Dhabi TV, said its Baghdad bureau was also hit.
In Doha, Gen. Vincent Brooks said US forces had been fired on 'from the lobby of the (Palestine) hotel', but could not explain how the return fire hit between 14 and 17 floors higher up.
Iraq's domestic state television went off the air this morning. Earlier, it had failed to broadcast a morning news bulletin and instead showed old footage of Saddam being cheered at rallies and played patriotic songs.
