Al-Jazeera cameraman killed in eastern Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya - Al-Jazeera says a cameraman for the Qatar-based satellite station has been killed near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, as other journalists describe harrowing and "surreal" conditions for work.

The station identified the slain journalist as Ali Hassan al-Jaber but did not specify his nationality. It said he was killed in what it called an "armed ambush" on an Al-Jazeera crew in the Hawari area near Benghazi, which is the headquarters of the rebellion seeking to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The station did not comment on who was responsible for the attack.

The station said Saturday a correspondent was also wounded.

Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab World
Arab League asks U.N. for Libya no-fly zone

Al-Jaber's death was the first for a journalist in since Libya erupted in protests and violent fighting on Feb. 15, although the Committee to Protect Journalists says that it had recorded at least 40 attacks on journalists thus far.

On its website, the CPJ reports that the attacks "include 25 detentions, four assaults, two attacks on news facilities, the jamming of Al-Jazeera and Al-Hurra transmissions, at least three instances of obstruction, and the interruption of Internet service. At least six local journalists are unaccounted for as of (Friday.) Numerous journalists have also reported the confiscation of equipment."

In Tripoli, Borzou Daragahi, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, described an "almost surreal" atmosphere in which "government agents in leather trench coats and sunglasses hover at hotel entrances."

Most of eastern Libya remains under rebel control, though pro-government forces have retaken territory in the past several days.