Cairo: Soldiers killed an Egyptian journalist working for the country`s state-run flagship daily newspaper at a military checkpoint, security officials said on Tuesday.
Tamer Abdel-Raouf`s death brings to five the number of journalists who have died in the past week of violence in Egypt.
The military initially said that Abdel-Raouf from the Al-Ahram newspaper sped through a checkpoint yesterday evening after a night time curfew began, and that soldiers fired warning shots before shooting at the car. It said the military did not deliberately shoot to kill.
However, Shaimaa Abu Elkhir of the Committee to Protect Journalists quoted a witness who was in the car with Abdel-Raouf as saying there were no warning shots and the incident took place an hour before the 7 pm start of the military-imposed curfew yesterday.
Hamed al-Barbari of Al-Gomhuria newspaper told the media watchdog group that they were turned back by soldiers at the checkpoint and told they could not pass. The soldiers then fired at the car as they were making a U-turn, al-Barbari said. Abdel-Raouf was shot in the head and the car then hit a light post. Al-Babrari was injured in the collision, according to CPJ.
The shot "was targeted at his head, but it is not clear why," Abu Elkhir said. "If they wanted to stop the car, they could have fired at the tires."
The two journalists had just finished a meeting with the recently appointed governor of Beheira province, northwest of Cairo.
Earlier, security officials had said the two presented their press cards and national identity cards to soldiers at the checkpoint before the driver sped off. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders urged the military to respect rules of curfew in force that exempt health professionals and journalists and allow them to freely move at night. However, many journalists have complained that the armed forces and police are not respecting this exemption.
PTI
