Public inquiry call after US troops kill journalist

‘‘Coming so soon after the death of Taras Protsyuk, also killed by a US tank, this latest death is hard to bear,’’ Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer said in a statement.

‘‘That’s why I am personally calling upon the highest levels of the US government for a full and comprehensive investigation into this terrible tragedy.’’

Dana, a 43-year-old Palestinian known for award-winning reporting from his home town of Hebron, was shot by a soldier on a tank as he filmed near Abu Ghraib prison.

‘‘Last night we had a terrible tragedy,’’ US spokesman Colonel Guy Shields said in Baghdad. ‘‘I can assure you no one feels worse than the soldier who fired the shots.’’

Many journalists paid their respects to Dana’s colleagues at the Reuters bureau in the Iraqi capital. His camera, shattered as he fell under fire, still filming, lay broken in a corner. Dana’s body was being returned to his wife Suzan for burial near his West Bank home this week. He leaves four children.

Meanwhile, the head of Iraq’s Governing Council said on Monday he expected a new constitution to be in place within six months and the council to name a cabinet at the end of next week.

‘‘The constitution might need six months, more or less…We have started receiving draft versions of the constitution and then it will be put to the Iraqi people,’’ Council President Ibrahim Jaafari said in Abu Dhabi.

In fresh violence today, Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported that 12 Iraqi looters were killed in a blast on Monday at an ammunition dump in Tikrit.

Al Jazeera, quoting Tikrit residents said the 12 had broken into the dump at dawn to loot copper which they would resell. The dump remained on fire several hours after the explosion, according to the report. (Reuters)