“CBS Asks Why U.S. Imprisons Its Iraqi Hire;” Cameraman Detained Since April

The April 5 detainment of a freelance CBS News cameraman in Iraq, and the military’s statement that he posed “an imperative threat to coalition forces,” “has sparked a bitter legal and political dispute with Viacom Inc.’s CBS, which has lobbied senior military and civilian officials to try to win the cameraman’s release,” the Wall Street Journal says.

Abdul Amir Younes Hussein faced a hearing in Baghdad today that would “determine whether he will be released.”

“The cameraman has now been detained for more than five months, and no one concerned has been informed of the evidence against him,” a CBS News statement says. “We continue to request that information and hope it will be provided and his status be decided, one way or another, in a fair and timely manner.” Here’s the full story…