WOW!!!!!
CBS Cameraman Arrested
Mudville Gazette (All relevant links below)
Iraqi citizens informed on CBS cameraman, leading to his arrest by coalition forces:
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CNN has reported that this CBS cameraman has been arrested in Iraq as an insurgent. According to the report his camera contained footage of an insurgent attack on American forces, authorities believe he was 'tipped off'.
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Update: CBS, Amnesty International and the Pulitzer committee are silent so far... (Added Clarification: this is not meant to imply the same cameraman was responsible for both events. The identity of the prize-winning photographer is unknown. Just noting the similarity.) (Update to Update: Reporters without Borders was all over it though.)
CBS original comment on the shooting was burried in another story on Iraq:
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A soldier shot an Iraqi freelance reporter and cameraman employed by CBS News, Abdul Amir Younis Hussein, in northeastern Mosul while working. According to what the Pentagon told the CBS News bureau in Washington, Tuesday, Hussein was shot in the hip by a soldier who mistook his camera, which he was using at the time, for a weapon. Hussein is being treated and is expected to make a full recovery.
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The original Reuters report:
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The cameraman and reporter suffered minor injuries when he was shot while covering a firefight for CBS in Mosul, CBS News said. It asked that the man's name not be reported for his protection.
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CBS then promptly released his name in their own report.
Reuters again:
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The U.S. military said in a statement from Mosul released at the Pentagon that U.S. soldiers had been involved in an engagement with at least one suspected insurgent who was "waving an AK-47 (assault rifle) and inciting a crowd of civilians."
During the incident, "an individual that appeared to have a weapon who was standing near the insurgent was shot and injured. This individual turned out to be a reporter who was pointing a video camera," the military statement said.
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Leaving out a fact that could be considered essential:
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A US military statement said troops also shot and killed an insurgent who was waving an AK-47 assault rifle and inciting a crowd of civilians at the site of a suicide bombing in eastern Mosul.
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That was left out of the CBS report too.
This report from an NBC affiliate attributed to AP adds this: The incident followed a car bombing in Mosul that injured five American soldiers.
More: NewsMax is reporting the arrest.
newsmax.com
ABC News
abcnews.go.com
And the Guardian, all with essentially the same story:
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But on Friday, the military said the cameraman was detained because there was probable cause to believe he posed ``an imperative threat to coalition forces.''
``He is currently detained and will be processed as any other security detainee,'' the statement said.
CBS News spokeswoman Leigh Farris said, ``We're looking into the situation.''
A spokesman for Task Force Freedom, Capt. Mark Walter, said the reporter suffered minor wounds and was with ``a number of people'' involved in the shootout.
Walter said the reporter was detained immediately after the incident, in part because of statements from witnesses to the battle.
Officials are investigating the man's previous activities as well as ``his alleged support of anti-Iraqi insurgency activities,'' the statement said.
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Iraqi citizens informed on CBS cameraman, leading to his arrest by coalition forces!
More: CBS reports:
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A cameraman carrying CBS press credentials was detained in Iraq earlier this week on suspicion of insurgent activity, the U.S. military said Friday.
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According to CBS when he was shot he was a "cameraman employed by CBS News" shot "while working" - when he was arrested he was "A cameraman carrying CBS press credentials."
Wow.
And more: The AP, still looking for space in the trophy case for that Pulitzer, toes the line:
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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A cameraman carrying CBS press credentials was detained in Iraq earlier this week on suspicion of insurgent activity, the U.S. military said Friday.
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In fairness, that 'credentials' bit might be a direct quote from the military press release. No excuse for CBS though. Hard to believe they waited so long to report. This guy was detained on Tuesday. Have they been ignorant of the fate of their cameraman for that long? Don't they care?
Double wow.
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