Posted on 09/19/2002 12:41:10 PM PDT by witnesstothefall
DOHA, Sept 18 - Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite channel urged reporters' rights groups on Wednesday to take up the case of one of its cameramen it said was being held at the US base in Guantanamo, Cuba, on suspicion of links with the Al-Qaeda terror network.
"Since Sami al-Hajj was detained on December 15, 2001, Al-Jazeera has tried to obtain his release through official approaches to the US side and without publicizing the case, but it did not receive a positive response," Al-Jazeera said in a statement obtained by AFP.
Hajj, a Sudanese national who was arrested in southern Afghanistan, has not been charged, and "Al-Jazeera urges journalists' rights watchdogs to approach US authorities to secure his release," the statement said.
Al-Jazeera decided to go public after trying for several months to win his release, and it would issue a "more strongly worded statement within a week" if its first statement does not bear fruit, news editor Ibrahim Hilal told AFP.
Al-Jazeera said US authorities suspected Hajj was on the list of wanted Al-Qaeda militants, but Sudanese foreign ministry documents had proved that his passport was lost two years ago and "could therefore have been misused by unknown elements."
The cameraman was initially held by US forces in Afghanistan before being moved to the Guantanamo base, as Al-Jazeera learned from letters he sent to his wife, the statement said.
Al-Jazeera approached the US embassy in Doha several times since learning of Hajj's arrest in April, to no avail, it added.
Hajj has insisted in his letters that he is innocent and that he was lonely, but did not complain of torture, Hilal told AFP.
Al-Jazeera gained world fame with scoops on Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and the early stages of the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, which began last October.
One would think a media 'organ' would shout from the rooftops when their correspondent is taken prisoner in a war zone, but Al Jazeera doesn't want the case publicised. Now why would that be?
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