[dep]

Rivera is reporting today from deep inside Iraq and insisting his ouster is a vicious rumor being spread by cable news competitor MSNBC.

except that cnn and reuter had it before msnbc did.

dep

[kcvl]

Rivera Denies Being Kicked Out of Iraq


Geraldo Rivera says it's a ''pack of lies.'' He's denying reports that he's been kicked out of Iraq by US military officials for giving out too much information about troop locations.

Reporting on the Fox News Channel, Rivera said he's actually further inside Iraq than he'd been before. He was standing alongside US troops in a building he identified as Iraq's ruling party headquarters in a city south of Baghdad.

Rivera says it sounds like the rumors that he'd been kicked out were spread by people he described as ''rats'' at NBC, where he used to work. He says his rivals ''can't compete fair and square on the battlefield,'' so they try to stab him in the back. But in the end, he insists, ''quality journalism wins out.''

Rivera says he has a ''great relationship'' with the troops in the 101st Airborne, and that he plans to ''march into Baghdad alongside them.'' Sources at US Central Command have said that Rivera was asked to leave because he revealed tactical information.