Cameraman arrested by US in Iraq

An Iraqi cameraman and three of his family were arrested by the US military during a raid on their Baghdad home, a television station said today.

The arrest comes two days after American 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 predominantly Sunni district of Azamiyah. His father and two brothers were also detained, an official with Baghdad TV said.

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

“He was seized along with others suspected of a terrorist bombing network,” said military spokesman Major John Hall.

The TV 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 Shiite-led Iraqi government.

“We demand that concerned officials intervene and for the Americans to release him immediately,” the official said.

Since the invasion of 2003, the US military has detained a number of Iraqi journalists working for international news organisations. None has been convicted in an Iraqi court.

Reuters freelance photographer Ibrahim Jassam was arrested on Tuesday by US and Iraqi forces during a raid on his home in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, the London-based news agency said. Reuters has demanded that the US either charge or release him.

The US military said 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 news photography from Iraq. He had been held for just over two years.