Journalist fired over cluster bomb death blast

A photographer at a leading Japanese newspaper was fired today after a cluster bomb he was carrying as a souvenir of the Iraq war exploded at Amman airport, killing a security guard and wounding three others.

Hiroki Gomi was dismissed because of the serious outcome of his negligence, the national Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said in a statement.

Gomi “hurt the faith and reputation of the Mainichi,” it said.

Gomi picked up a cluster bomb on a battlefield while covering the Iraq war.

He was on his way home to Japan when the device was detected in his luggage by an X-ray machine at Amman airport.

As a security guard checked Gomi’s luggage, the device exploded, killing the guard and injuring three other people.

Earlier this month, a Jordanian court sentenced Gomi to 18 months in jail for unintentional homicide, but Jordan’s King Abdullah II pardoned him. He returned to Tokyo on Thursday.

Japan is a major aid donor to Jordan.

“I will make up for what I have done for the rest of my life,” Gomi said in a statement, accepting the dismissal.

He offered his condolences to the family of the guard and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.

Gomi’s case caused much embarrassment in Japan. Mainichi President Akira Saito flew to Jordan to apologise and laid a wreath at the airport’s international departure terminal, where the explosion occurred.

Saito also forfeited his executive bonus in a gesture of responsibility, while the Mainichi’s managing editor took a cut in his monthly pay.