New York Times says reporter killed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi reporter working for the New York Times was shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad on Friday, the newspaper said.

Khalid Hassan, 23, died a day after a photographer and driver working for Reuters were killed in the city in what witnesses said was a U.S. helicopter attack and which police described as "random American bombardment".

The military described it as a firefight with insurgents.

Hassan was shot dead in the Saidiya district of southern Baghdad, the Times said in a statement. The circumstances of the attack were unclear, it said.

Hassan had phoned the bureau earlier and said his normal route to the office was blocked by a security checkpoint, the newspaper said on its Web site.

"I'm trying to find another way," he told the bureau staff.

About a half an hour later he called his mother, with whom he lived, telling her: "I've been shot."

His family later phoned the bureau to report that he had been killed, the newspaper added.

"Khalid ... was a resourceful and brave member of our news team, who met the many professional and personal challenges of his four years on our staff with enduring good humour and optimism," said John Burns, the paper's Baghdad bureau chief.