Tareq Ayyoub

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tareq Ayyoub (طارق ايوب) (also spelled Tarek Ayyoub) was an Arab television reporter of Palestinian nationality, employed by Al Jazeera, and previously by Fox News. On April 8, 2003, Ayyoub was killed when two missiles (apparently fired from an A-10 Warthog US Fighter plane) struck the Baghdad headquarters of the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Many of the Arab reporters for Al Jazeera saw this as an intentional attack on their personnel, but the United States stated later that day that the death had been an accident, and that hostile fire had been seen originating from the Al Jazeera headquarters. There is no evidence to support this claim however, and it is much disputed because of two other incidents that occurred on the same day. First, the Abu Dhabi satellite station was hit by 'Army Fire' in a different section of Baghdad. Second, a US Tank fired shells at Palestine Hotel, killing journalists Taras Protsyuk of Reuters and Jose Couso of a Spanish TV Station.

Two days after the attacks on Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi, the US-Britain coalition launched an Arabic speaking news channel called Nahwa Al-Hurrieh, meaning 'Toward Freedom', in Iraq.

The event, from Al Jazeera's perspective, was captured in the documentary Control Room.

In November 2005, a UK government memo leaked to the Daily Mirror newspaper suggested that US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed the possibility of bombing the Al Jazeera offices in Doha. This report has lead to suggestions that the attack on Ayyoub could have been pre-meditated. Mr Ayyoub's widow Dima Tahboub has announced that she intends to start legal action against the US government.