The AP TV crew and photog Abdel Kader Saadi came later. The AFP reporters, Sabah Arar and Karim Sahib, were there either during the attack (i.e. with the attackers) or immediately after. They were there before the vehicles were burnt or the wounded Americans finished off.
As Trav intimates, they would probably have been better off screwing with the Marines than with Blackwater. Not that screwing with the Marines is a very good idea.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F