Fighting kills Al-Jazeera journalist
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Arab journalist was among five Iraqis killed in fighting between coalition forces and insurgents in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, a hospital official said.
Rashid Hamid Wali, 36, of the Arabic language news channel Al-Jazeera was killed while covering the fighting from a hotel roof in the southern Iraqi city, the channel said.
The Qatar-based news channel issued a news release saying Wali was killed by a bullet in the head.
Al-Jazeera said it wasn't able to immediately verify the source of the shot.
"He looked up to try to locate the place of the U.S. military vehicles, but he was shot in the head by machine guns," journalist Abd al-Adhim Muhammed told Al-Jazeera.
Earlier, Al-Jazeera producer Sa'ad Ibrahim told CNN that Wali was hit and killed by U.S. tank fire.
In its statement, Al-Jazeera said it "urgently calls on the U.S. occupation forces and the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) to immediately conduct a full investigation into the death ... and to make the result public."
CNN contacted the Coalition Press Information Center, which said it was checking into the death.
Wali was covering the fighting from the roof of the Koddam Alhousein Hotel in Karbala shortly after midnight (4 p.m. ET Thursday) when he was killed, the channel said.
"Al-Jazeera channel announces with a heavy heart the death of Rashid Hamid Wali, a member of its team covering events in the Iraqi southern city of Karbala," its statement said.
"Rashid passed away during the early hours of the morning (approximately 0045 Baghdad time, 0845 GMT) as a result of a bullet that hit him in the left eye, exiting the back of the head, shattering it in the process.
"Rashid was hit by a single bullet when he stuck his head looking down onto the street after hearing the sound of U.S. armored vehicles moving.
"No verifiable information was immediately available as to the source of the bullet that led to Rashid's untimely death, however, eyewitnesses showed members of the media corps samples of the bullets that hit the vicinity of the hotel rooftop."
Wali leaves behind a wife and six children, Al-Jazeera said. He performed various duties for the network, including work as a driver and a cameraman.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Tareq Ayoub was killed April 8 when U.S. forces fired at the channel's offices in Baghdad as Ayoub was getting ready to go on air.
For several weeks, coalition forces have been battling fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Karbala.
