Still open to debate I think. See:
[Greyhawk]
It's been one week since the London Times published the story of the murder of Atwar Bahjat. Within hours some serious questions were raised about the accuracy of the report, questions to which the Times has offered no response. The only additional information published thus far on their web site is a letter from a reader expressing outrage over the brutal murder. It would seem the Times is standing by their original story.
I've seen no conclusive evidence either way. It's possible the Times does have a video of the murder that no one else has seen, and that it is very similar to another killing in another video. It's also possible the Times was the victim of a cruel hoax, and that the reporter who knew Atwar Bahjat was duped by the power of suggestion into believing the man killed in a low-quality video was her.
http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/004617.html
Hmm. Interesting as I haven't seen either video (nor would I) I certainly can't say either way. Thanks for the link.
I do think it is unfortunate that western media seems obsessed with hyping these monsters and doing much of their propaganda for them.