Apr. 16, 2003. 01:00 AM
Paul Watson escaped death yesterday in Mosul, Iraq, after being beaten and stabbed.
U.S. journalist stabbed during riot in Mosul
Mob attacks man taking photograph Pulled to safety

by locals in crowd

PAUL WATSON
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

MOSUL, Iraq—In the middle of a riot yesterday, a group helping a man with a long, deep gash on his forehead asked if I would photograph them.

When I did, some 300 people rushed me, shouting, "American! American!"

As the mob approached, I saw I had no escape route.

The only thing that kept them at bay — for several minutes, anyway — was a group of about 20 people who tried to fend off my attackers.

"He's innocent! He's innocent!" shouted one man. "Leave him alone."

But the mob wanted blood, and I could see two men who had knives.

"Let me through, I want to kill him," screamed one.

After several minutes of struggling and stone-throwing, the mob knocked me to the ground and kicked me repeatedly in the head and back before stabbing me in the buttocks.

My defenders managed to drag me into a nearby restaurant, and the mob smashed the windows and door before the owner managed to pull down the metal security shutter.

Just then, American troops opened fire and the mob gave up the chase.

Two of my defenders, who were Arabs, brought me and my Kurdish translator to the governor's building, where the Americans were positioned. U.S. troops provided medical attention for the wound.

Los Angeles Times


Watson, the Star's former Africa bureau chief, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his photo of a dead American soldier being dragged by a mob through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia.





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