Malcolm Browne, the Associated Press correspondent in Saigon during the Vietnam War, has died aged 81.

Browne (left) was the photographer who took the picture of a Buddhist monk's self-immolation that shocked the Kennedy White House into a re-evaluation of its Vietnam policy.

Calls went out from Saigon's Xa-Loi Buddhist pagoda to chosen members of the foreign news corps on 10 June 1963. The message said to be at a certain location the next day for a "very important" happening. An elderly monk named Thich Quang Duc assumed the lotus position on a street intersection, was drenched with aviation fuel and set himself ablaze.

Browne was the only foreign journalist at the scene and his photo became an iconic image of the Vietnam era. The picture was selected as the world’s best news picture of the year at the Seventh World Press Photo contest, winning the prestigious World Photo Award in 1963.

Browne wrote a 1965 book, The New Face of War, and a manual for new reporters in Vietnam. Among its kernels of advice: have a sturdy pair of boots, watch out for police spies who eavesdrop on reporters' bar conversations and "if you're crawling through grass with the troops and you hear gunfire, don't stick your head up to see where it's coming from, as you will be the next target."

He spent most of his subsequent career at The New York Times, where he put in 30 years as a journalist.