World Press Photo suspends credit for ‘Napalm Girl’ picture

World Press Photo yesterday suspended the credit for who took one of the most iconic pictures in history, the Vietnam War image "Napalm Girl", after doubts were raised over the photograph's authorship.

The organisation, which awards one of the world's most prestigious photojournalism prizes, said it carried out its own investigation into the haunting 1972 photo -- which shows a nine-year-old girl fleeing naked from a napalm strike -- after the premiere of the film "The Stringer".

The documentary chronicles an investigation into rumours that the image, which helped change global perceptions of the US war in Vietnam, was taken by a little-known local freelancer, not the Associated Press (AP) staff photographer Nick Ut, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the photo.