Chapter 10 7.Six hundred journalists gather in Amman

They are tough guys with skills. — Geoffrey Meyers When multinational forces intensified their air raids on Baghdad, journalists from various countries who were expelled from Iraq flew to Amman, the capital of Jordan known as the "front-line country". To this end, the Ministry of Information of Jordan opened a reception department at the Jordan Intercontinental Hotel in Amman, welcoming journalists from all over the world.The InterContinental Hotel has become the headquarters of journalists of all kinds. Journalists of different natures of work and dressed in fancy clothes are jumping up and down vigorously, full of an exciting atmosphere of devotion from top to bottom.Here, you only need to fill in a form including your name, nationality, unit, occupation, time of your last visit to Jordan, and published works, and you can generally get a three-month visa.Even though journalists had to register here every day to receive a valid interview pass for the day, it was a great relief for those Western journalists who had just flown out of Baghdad.Here, having been to Baghdad has become an honor, and Kyodo Kondo is regarded as a hero because he only left Baghdad on January 16.

On the eighth floor of the main building of the Intercontinental Hotel, CBS of the United States rented half a floor as a studio, and employees ran up and down with walkie-talkies in their hands.In Baghdad, Kono, the Kyodo agency that I spent my life with, also chartered a large suite on the fifth floor as a studio. Photojournalist Toshio Okawamoto set up his own AP—Leafax film fax machine here. Kondo, chief executive of the company Middle East. On the 21st, Kono and Taiheyuan of Kyodo News were detained by Jordanian paratroopers for seven and a half hours while taking pictures near the Dead Sea. The Jordanian military did not understand why journalists were interested in the Dead Sea. According to regulations, the Dead Sea cannot be interviewed because it has nothing to do with the military.In the end, the Japanese embassy was alarmed.But the Japanese reporter who caused the accident was complacent: "Because every deduction is equal to a medal."

My own experience is not much better than that of Kyodo News, and I have been unable to count the detailed times of cameras being detained.I have long been used to holding the camera with both hands and clinging to the back of my head, walking towards the soldiers with guns and obeying.However, when the soldiers took my camera away, I still couldn't help but make some little moves. In order to protect themselves and fear that the world will not be chaotic, journalists from various countries have come up with brilliant tactics.A reporter from Japan's NTV TV station bought an Arab Baotou "Hardy" to dress up, hoping to win favor for it and facilitate interviews, but it was still difficult.In front of the famous Abdul Hussein Mosque, NTV was pushed around like a small boat in a storm.

American journalist Stephen Rahman wears two Canadian Maple Leaf badges on his chest, stands on a mound of dirt in a refugee camp on the Yeoi border, and stammers his speech against the war.He also pinned a large aluminum plate on his front, saying "NoBloodForOil (Don't bleed for oil)!" This Yankee who claimed to know me at the intersection of Xidan in 1989 pointed to the five-star red flag on my chest, Let me prove in public that he is Canadian. There are more than 30 reporters from Taiwan staying at the InterContinental Hotel in Jordan, but they can block news from each other, so the competition is naturally fierce.But there is one thing in common, that is, submit a list to the Chinese embassy in Jordan early in the morning every day, imploring to take care of them.Ambassador Zhang even asked me to accompany him several times when he met with Taiwanese journalists, which made me look a lot better.The Times newspaper department, the United newspaper department, and the Zili newspaper department sent their own masters. The photographer Lin Shaoyan of the Times newspaper department just withdrew from the Asian Games.Zhang Sheng of The Times was upset a few days ago when he actually got a visa to Baghdad, which aroused the envy and jealousy of Western reporters.

The Swedish TV cameraman hung a white cloth on his chest and back, and wrote in Arabic capitals: "Blood is more expensive than oil. Swedish TV." The rich and powerful Reuters broadcast its English bulletin to all the rooms in the Jordan Intercontinental Hotel through closed-circuit television, and a group of timid white reporters stared at it with sore eyes.Here you can also see the 24-hour continuous program of Israeli TV, which attracted some reporters to follow the host to do chemical defense and self-rescue exercises.Veteran military reporters pointed authoritatively at the scene on the screen: This is the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, and that is the M-1 Bram tank.

Some journalists with a keen sense of smell are secretly preparing to go to Israel, and Chandler, a British war correspondent, is one.He repeatedly explained that he was unable to enter Baghdad because the British embassy in Iraq was closed, and he repeatedly asked me if I got anything in Baghdad.Several Taiwanese journalists are also secretly planning to go to Cyprus. It is said that it is easy to get an Israeli visa there. In other Arab countries, once the trace of Israel is printed on the passport, the entire passport will be invalidated.My good friend Kondo will also go to Tel Aviv within a few days, and the job in Amman will be replaced by a newbie.Kondo believes that a good reporter must have genius, schooling and experience.Due to his years of war experience, he played the role of Kyodo News Middle East "firefighter".

Three consecutive days of rain brought joy to Amman, because Lu Chuan Chemical Weapons was most afraid of heavy rain.But military experts advise everyone not to be blindly optimistic. The westerly wind from the Mediterranean will blow the air over Israel to Jordan intact. There are no survivors in the modern war, and the Jordanians are frightened to move their families out to avoid the disaster of war.Journalists from various countries watched from the sidelines, watching the situation in the Middle East.