IN WAKE OF FATAL ACCIDENT GOK SEEKS TIGHTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 005526

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2012
TAGS: MOPS PREL US FR IZ KU
SUBJECT: IN WAKE OF FATAL ACCIDENT GOK SEEKS TIGHTER
CONTROL OF JOURNALISTS COVERING US FORCES -- FOR THEIR
SAFETY

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones, reasons 1.5(B) and (D).

See action request in para 4.


1. (C) In the course of a December 25 meeting on other topics
(septels),the Ambassador and Kuwait Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Dr. Shaykh Mohammed al-Sabah discussed the
December 22 death of French journalist Patrick Bourrat as a
result of injuries he suffered the preceding day while
covering a training exercise at the Udairi Range. Dr.
Mohammed asked the Ambassador whether the French had sought
an explanation for the accident.


2. (C) The Ambassador informed Dr. Mohammed that he had
received a letter from his French colleague, Ambassador
Claude Losguardi, on December 23 requesting a report from the
Commanding General of Third Army as to the exact
circumstances of the accident and the nature of the medical
care that Bourrat had received thereafter. In response, the
Embassy had provided a preliminary report prepared by the
U.S. military. When the final report was available it would
also be provided. At Dr. Mohammed's request, he shared a
copy of Losgaurdi's letter and the preliminary report with
him. (See texts in paragraphs 5 and 6, respectively.)


3. (C) After perusing the preliminary report, Dr. Mohammed
commented that it seemed clear that Bourrat's own actions had
cost him his life. Nonetheless, Dr. Mohammed was troubled
that Bourrat had been able to leave a safe area to get in the
way of the tank that hit him. The report did not address how
this happened. He argued that by allowing journalists to
observe its activities the U.S. military was implicitly
assuming responsibility for their safety; procedures should
have been in place to prevent this. He urged the U.S. to
consider instituting such procedures. At the very least, the
U.S. should insist that journalists sign some form of a
release of liability that states that they understand the
rules for their being allowed access to a hazardous event and
agree to abide by them. The Ambassador asked Dr. Mohammed
whether this was an official request. Dr. Mohammed said that
it was; the MFA would follow up in writing.


4. (C) COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST: Although a Ministry of
Defense official had earlier complained to us about
inflammatory "on to Baghdad" media coverage of recent
training exercises, Dr. Mohammed made no reference to any
such concern. His focus was completely on the safety of the
journalists and the desire to avoid any future accidents. In
this regard, we believe that he has made a useful suggestion.
If it's not already the practice, a standard legal release
for journalists' signature that made it clear they understood
the rules for an event and agreed to abide by them (perhaps
under penalty of being excluded from participation in future
events) could help prevent future accidents, or at least
mitigate any diplomatic / legal fallout from them. As the
Ambassador told Dr. Mohammed, there will be a lull in
training activity for the next few weeks anyway. Now would
be a good time to consider how to tighten procedures,
including possibly the introduction of such a standard legal
release, before field activities resume in earnest. (We may
even want to insist that the journalists' employers agree to
the release to make the point that they share responsibility
for their employees' behavior.) We recommend that action
addressees consider this suggestion seriously. Please
advise.


5. (SBU) Text of Losguardi Letter (informal embassy
translation of French original)

"Mr. Ambassador, dear colleague,

Thank you for calling me to express your compassion and
sympathy following the accident that cost the life of Mr.
Patrick Bourrat, TF1 journalist, while he was covering
maneuvers of U.S. forces in the north of Kuwait.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would intervene with the
commanding general of Third Army to conduct an investigation
as soon as possible to determine the exact circumstances of
Mr. Bourrat's accident as well as the nature of the care
provided to him by the American medical team at the Kuwait
Armed Forces hospital.

Thanking you for your cooperation, please accept Mr.
Ambassador and dear colleague, the expression of my warm
regards," signed Claude Losguardi


6. (SBU) Text of U.S. military report

SERIOUS INCIDENT REPORT (SIS) 02-0034 (PRELIMINARY)


1. TYPE OF ACCIDENT: ACCIDENTAL DEATH


2. TIME OF INCIDENT: December 21, 2002, 0900 local


3. LOCATION: NORTH SIDE OF UDAIRI RANGE COMPLEX (QT141893)


4. VICTIM: BOURRAT, PATRICK NMN; CIVILIAN, FRANCE, 20 SEP
1952, FRANCE; MALE; WHITE; 1 QUAI POINT DU JOUR, BOULOGNE,
FRANCE; XZ; OTHER ID: FRENCH SSN, 1520999351379.


5. SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATION: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF
USACID REVEALED THAT BOURRAT WAS SETTING UP TO FILM A
BREACHING OPERATION CONDUCTED BY AN M-1A1 ABRAMS TANK.
BOURRAT WAS INSTRUCTED TO SET UP IN A SAFE ZONE, BUT AS THE
TANK APPROACHED, BOURRAT RAN ACROSS THE BREACH LANE TO TRY
AND OBTAIN A BETTER CAMERA ANGLE, AND WAS STRUCK BY THE TANKS
(sic) FLEXIBLE LEFT FRONT FENDER. BOURRAT WAS THROWN 15 FEET
AND LANDED IN A COIL OF CONCERTINA WIRE. BOURRAT WAS
ATTENDED BY A PA, AND LATER MEDICALLY EVACUATED VIA
HELICOPTER TO THE KUWAITI ARMED FORCES HOSPITAL. BOURRAT WAS
INITIALLY ASSESSED WITH 4 BROKEN RIBS AND A COLLAPSED LUNG.
BETWEEN 211600ZDEC02 AND 211900ZDEC02 BOURRAT SUCCESSFULLY
UNDERWENT SURGERY TO REMOVE HIS SPLEEN AND INSERT A CHEST
TUBE. AT APPROXIMATELY 212345ZDEC02 COMPLICATIONS AROSE, AND
HE SUCCUMBED TO HIS INJURIES. BOURRAT WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD BY
DR. (CPT) GEOFFREY G. HOBIKA AT 220023ZDEC02. AN AUTOPSY
WILL BE CONDUCTED BY FRENCH AUTHORITIES IN PARIS, FRANCE."


JONES