THE news agency Reuters is demanding a full investiga tion into the death of one of its cameraman who was killed in Iraq Monday.

The U.S. Military has said that the journalist, Dhia Najim was killed by American forces during a gunfight between Marines and insurgents in the city of Ramadi.

But video footage Najim filmed just before he died showed that the fighting in Ramadi had actually subsided, Reuters officials say.

“We reject the clear implication in the marines’ statement that Dhia was part of an insurgent group,” Reuters global managing editor, David Schlesinger said.

The cameraman is the 62nd journalist to be killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003.

“We need to be certain that journalists are not the victims of reckless behavior or poor soldiering that can and should be avoided,” said Aidan White, an official of International Federation of Journalists.

“Marines from the 1st Marine Division of the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force engaged several insurgents in a brief small arms firefight that killed an individual who was carrying a video camera earlier Monday morning,” a statement from the army said.