Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent Peter Arnett has died at the age of 91, US media has reported.
Arnett won the international reporting prize in 1996 for his coverage of the Vietnam War at the Associated Press (AP). He became a household name at CNN during the first Gulf War, earning recognition for his impactful reporting.
His expansive career covered key conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Vietnam, and El Salvador. Arnett passed away on Wednesday in California, surrounded by family and friends while receiving hospice care for prostate cancer.
Arnett began his career with AP as a wire-service correspondent in Vietnam in 1962. He often accompanied troops on their missions, and in a 2013 talk, he recounted a harrowing moment when a soldier was shot while he read a map, vividly recalling the incident.
He joined CNN in 1981 and is remembered as one of the few Western reporters to remain in Baghdad during the Gulf War. His live broadcasts exhibited the ongoing violence, and he famously interviewed then-President Saddam Hussein amid the chaos.
In 1997, he made headlines again by becoming the first Western journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. His candid reporting style often put him at odds with military narratives, leading to his controversial dismissal from NBC after an interview with Iraqi state television.
Born in 1934 in Riverton, New Zealand, Arnett moved to the US and became a naturalized citizen. Colleagues and friends remember him as one of the greatest war correspondents of his generation, and his legacy will endure in journalism and historical narratives for years to come.
Arnett is survived by his wife, Nina Nguyen, and their children, Andrew and Elsa.
