US military arrests Iraqi journalist

US military arrests Iraqi journalist
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:33:54 GMT
Bilal Hussein, an AP photographer, was held in detention for 2 years.
The US military has arrested an Iraqi cameraman and three of his family members during a raid on their home in the capital Baghdad.

The arrest comes two days after US and Iraqi forces detained a freelance photographer for the Reuters news agency south of Baghdad.

The cameraman, Omar Husham, 28, was arrested at his house in the Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah, an official of Baghdad TV said.

His father and two brothers were also detained, the official said.

The US military said it detained a journalist because he was "assessed to be threat to security'' but would not release the name.


The television official said Husham had been working for Baghdad TV for two years and covered many political events. The station is owned by the Iraqi Islamic Party, the major Sunni political group and a member of the Iraqi government.

"Husham is a respected cameraman who has traveled abroad with government officials,'' the official told AP news agency.

"We demand that concerned officials intervene and for the US to release him immediately.''

Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US military has detained a number of Iraqi journalists working for international news agencies.

None has been convicted in an Iraqi court. Reuters freelance photographer Ibrahim Jassam was arrested Tuesday by US and Iraqi forces during a raid on his home in Mahmoudiya, 30 kilometers south of Baghdad, the London-based news agency said. Reuters has demanded that the US either charge or release him.

The US military also said that Jassam was detained because he was "assessed to be a threat'' to Iraq and coalition forces but did not give more details.

In April, the US military freed Bilal Hussein, an AP photographer who was among the recipients of a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography from Iraq. He had been held for just over two years.

MMA/MP/HAR

my first thought was to think 'look the US is going after the press!!' but how do we know this guy isnt a real threat and was maybe trying to cause some trouble. idk maybe put a bomb in his video camera or something....

sorry about his luck. if he was deemed a threat, then there was probably a good reason. if not, tough shit, its war, bad things happen to good people in war. i would much rather read about an innocent iraqi journalist being detained for two years than to hear of another Soldier, Sailor, or Marine getting killed.

I see your point Hockey. Better them than us I suppose.

We can't really know if he was a threat or not, since we're obviously not government officials. But the attitude that all Iraqi's hate Americans isn't true. Arrests like this that get alot of public attention really only feed any/all conflicts

Read The End of America by Naomi Wolf. maybe you guys will think differently about the current status of our country. It also talks about this very subject, as well as U.S. citizens being arrested and held without provided counsel from a lawyer. Crazy Stuff