WAR.WIRE
Sacked reporter Arnett joins British daily opposed to Iraq war
LONDON (AFP) Apr 01, 2003
 Award-winning news correspondent Peter Arnett, sacked by the American TV network NBC after suggesting on Iraqi television that the US war plan had failed, has joined the Daily Mirror -- the British newspaper most opposed to the conflict.

"Fired by America for telling the truth... Hired by Daily Mirror to carry on telling it," read the headline on the tabloid's front page Tuesday.

"I report the truth of what is happening here in Baghdad and will not apologise for it," Arnett told the daily.

"I have always admired your newspaper and am proud to be working for it."

Famed for his coverage of the Vietnam War and the first Gulf war, Arnett was sacked by NBC on Monday, and later also let go by National Geographic.

Arnett's comments, broadcast this past weekend by Iraqi television, said that Washington's "first war plan has just failed because of Iraqi resistance."

"Clearly the American war planners misjudged the determination of the Iraqi forces," Arnett, 68, told Iraqi journalists.

His comments met with severe criticism in the United States, with some accusing him of aiding the Iraqis.

Arnett had initially said he had no immediate plans for his future, quipping "There's a small island in the South Pacific, uninhabited, which I will try to swim to."

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