Trial of CBS cameraman postponed

New York, March 22, 2006—The trial of an Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News has been put off until next month, The Associated Press reported. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein was scheduled to appear in court today, but an Iraqi judge postponed the trial until April 5, CBS News bureau chief in Baghdad, Larry Doyle, told the AP.

U.S. military authorities have been holding Hussein in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad since his arrest last April in the northern city of Mosul. Throughout, U.S. officials have refused to make public any charges or evidence against.

The U.S. military has declined to comment on cases involving detained journalists. Hussein was arrested after being wounded while filming clashes between Iraqi insurgents and U.S. troops in Mosul. The tape that was in his camera at the time of his arrest may be part of the evidence being used against him, Doyle said. He added that U.S. authorities have also indicated to him that they believe the Iraqi journalist may have been “instigating a crowd” in Mosul before his arrest. Last year seven journalists were detained for weeks or months by U.S. forces. Hussein is the only journalist still being jailed by the U.S. military in Iraq.