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Reuters confirmed that four of its staff -- a reporter, photographer, TV cameraman and TV technician -- were wounded in the attack on the Palestine Hotel, which the Americans said was being used by Iraqi snipers. One other reporter was also injured, bringing the number of injured at the hotel to five.

Acording to US military officials, a US tank fired a single round at the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad in response to an attack from a rocket propelled grenade (RPG).

General Buford Blount, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division said: "The tank was receiving fire from the hotel, RPG and small-arms fire, and engaged with one tank round. The firing stopped."

The admission came as the EU said it was to call on the US to keep journalists out of the firing line, after the strike on the Palestine Hotel.

The attack followed the earlier death of an Al Jazeera reporter as the offices of the satellite news network were hit by a coalition bombing raid.

Al Jazeera initially said that one of its cameramen was injured in the attack and another one of its team members was missing. It was later reported that Tariq Ayoub had died of his injuries.

The US Defense Department said that the Baghdad office of Al Jazeera had not been a military target.

However, a military spokesman told MSNBC that "Al Jazeera's offices were located in a target-rich environment".

The attack on the Palestine Hotel came as coalition forces tried to kill Saddam Hussein. Acting on intelligence information, attacks this morning centred on a military complex that might house the dictator and his sons Qusai and Uday.

The attack was carried out by a B-1B bomber, which dropped bunker-busting bombs on the building in al-Mansour, Baghdad.

According to BBC reports, the attack left a huge large hole where the building had been.

Marine Major Brad Bartelt, a spokesman for US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, said: "We are confirming that a leadership target was indeed hit very hard."

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