Al-Jazeera cameraman and assistant wounded during grenade attack

New York, August 11, 2003—A cameraman for the Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera and his assistant were injured yesterday, Sunday, August 10, during a grenade attack on U.S. troops in Baghdad.

Cameraman Hussein Ali Hassan and his assistant Mustafa Hazem suffered shrapnel wounds to their legs after an assailant or assailants dropped a grenade from a 10th-floor window at Baghdad University, Al-Jazeera assistant producer Ziad Ajlouni told CPJ.

The blast reportedly wounded two U.S. soldiers.

Ajlouni said that U.S. forces had invited the Al-Jazeera team to cover troops distributing furniture to the university.

Both Hassan and Hazem were taken to a hospital for treatment and were later released with minor injuries.