Aljazeera team arrested by US
US soldiers in al-Ramadi have arrested two Aljazeera journalists while they were interviewing witnesses of an attack targeting occupation forces near the Iraqi town.
Aljazeera correspondent, Hamid Hadid, and the cameraman working with him also had their equipment confiscated.
A number of journalists were at the scene, but only the Aljazeera team were arrested.
Eyewitnesses said a number of US soldiers were wounded when a bomb detonated damaging two military vehicles.
Another correspondent in Iraq said US soldiers also threatened to fire at Aljazeera staff in future if they were caught in al-Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad, which has become a hotbed of resistance against US troops.
Hatred
“(US soldiers) expressed their hatred of Aljazeera and threatened to open fire on any Aljazeera correspondent working in Ramadi in the future,” the correspondent said.
But a US spokesman in Iraq said he had no information about any Aljazeera journalists being arrested.
“I don’t have anything in regards to two Aljazeera reporters and nothing in regards to them being detained,” the official told Reuters.
In July, US forces arrested two Aljazeera crew members in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul while they filmed an attack on American troops.
Iraqi police in July arrested four of the Qatar-based Arabic station’s employees in Iraq, accusing one of them of inciting violence.