Five years ago, BJP talked with Reuters’ chief photographer in Iraq Chris Helgren. He told us how he spent 18 months in the country covering the war, but also training Iraqi photographers that would then go on to work for the wire agency. One of these Iraqis was Namir Noor-Eldeen. “In Mosul, Noor-Eldeen started from nothing and is now the pre-eminent photographer in Northern Iraq,” Helgren said at the time, adding that it was Reuters’ only way to report from these no-go areas.

Two years later, on 12 July 2007, Namir Noor-Eldeen died in helicopter attack by US forces. The 22-year old photographer was killed alongside his driver, Saeed Chmagh, also employed by the London-based agency.

Learning of the death, Helgren said: “'When he first came to my attention, Namir was an energetic teenager in Mosul whose family was involved in photography and video. He took an interest in the trade and with training, and a few critiques, it quickly became obvious he was going to become one of the new stars in Iraqi photojournalism. He had an urgency that suited the front pages of the news business but also a tender eye that brought humanity via quiet moments to a vicious war.”

Quickly, Reuters called for an investigation, as cameras recovered from the two Reuters staff members provided evidence against the official line offered by the US military. In October 2007, BJP wrote that “concerns were raised by the news agency when it found that none of the photographs taken by Noor-Eldeen on the day of his death show clashes between militants and US forces.”

However, an official investigation by the US Central Command found that “US forces were not aware of the presence of the news staffers and thought they were engaging armed insurgents,” according to Reuters.

For the past three years, Reuters filed Freedom of Information Act requests to have the video released. To no avail. Until this week, when whistleblowers within the US military leaked the video to WikiLeaks (it can be seen above).

“The video released today via WikiLeaks is graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result," says David Schlesinger, Reuters' editor-in-chief.

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