Al-Arabiya journalist held with non-political detainees for the past week

Reporters Without Borders wrote to Iraqi interior minister Falah al-Nakib today asking him to do everything in his power necessary for the release of journalist Waël Issam of the Dubai-based, 24-hour satellite TV news station Al-Arabiya, who was arrested at Baghdad international airport on 28 March. Pointing out that the authorities have not given any valid reason for arresting Issam, the press freedom organization voiced astonishment that he is being held in an interior ministry centre with individuals detained for non-political crimes although "it remains to be established that Issam committed any crime." The letter continued: "At the time of his arrest, the Iraqi police seized videotapes of footage recently shot in Iraq. Jawad Kadhem, a journalist with the Al-Arabiya bureau in Baghdad, quoted Issam as saying the footage contained nothing that could have prompted such a reaction. "We know that Al-Arabiya's executives and Issam's mother are in contact with the interior ministry in an attempt to obtain his release. We turn to you today because of the urgency of the situation. Issam's detention should be terminated because it seems to us to be unwarranted in a country that wants to demonstrate its commitment to development and democracy." Issam's release would also help ease relations between the Iraqi authorities and foreign journalists working in Iraq, the letter added.