U.S. still detaining cameraman, Arab satellite station says

By The Associated Press

10.15.02

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HAVANA — A producer for the Arab satellite station al-Jazeera said a cameraman allegedly detained at the U.S. naval base in Cuba "did not commit a single crime."

Producer Yousuf H. Al-Shouly, a former supervisor of cameraman Sami al-Haj, told war correspondents meeting in Havana that the cameraman was detained by Pakistan on Dec. 15 while working on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The cameraman, a Sudanese national, later was turned over to the U.S. military and taken to the American base on Cuba, Al-Shouly said.

"I swear that he did not commit a single crime," Al-Shouly said Oct. 9 at Cuba's third annual World Encounter of War Correspondents.

The event is sponsored by the Cuba Journalists Union, made up of reporters for the island's state-controlled media, the Cuban Red Cross and the official Jose Marti International Institute of Journalism.

Those attending the event at the government's International Press Center include reporters from 10 foreign countries and about 100 Cuban journalists.

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter last month to the American government seeking information on reports that al-Haj was being held at Guantanamo's Camp Delta along with al-Qaida suspects.

"Although CPJ is continuing to investigate the circumstances of al-Haj's detention, the organization is concerned that he may be wrongly detained," said the Sept. 27 letter addressed to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, said it was notified by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry that al-Haj reported his passport missing in 2000, "thus making it reasonably possible that it (the passport) was subject to misuse by other people."

About 600 detainees from 43 nations are being held in Guantanamo for suspected links with al-Qaida, the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. American authorities have yet to press formal charges against the detainees.

Al-Jazeera has drawn American criticism for airing tapes of Osama bin Laden. It also aired exclusive reports from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan after the terror attacks.

"We're not perfect. ... We don't offer the best service, but we do offer access to other voices," Al-Shouly said. "I'm not just talking about Osama bin Laden, but other voices in all of the Middle East."

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Arab TV station says cameraman held at Guantanamo
Al-Jazeera reports journalist Sami al-Haj, a Sudanese, was arrested in Afghanistan in December.  09.18.02