Iraqi Police Briefly Detain Al- Arabiya Crew In Najaf: T.V.

DUBAI, Aug 25 (AFP) - Iraqi police briefly detained five members from a news crew from the Al-Arabiya satellite news channel in the Shiite holy city of Najaf late Wednesday, the Dubai-based television said.
"Iraqi police entered the hotel in Najaf where journalists are staying and detained five members of the Al-Arabiya crew, including correspondent Diyar al-Omari," the television said in an evening news bulletin, adding that the reasons for the arrests were unclear.
The five were released shortly afterwards, the TV announced an hour later without giving further details.
Omari, an Iraqi, had appeared in a 9:00 pm (1700 GMT) news bulletin from Najaf with live coverage of the fighting between militiamen of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and US and US-backed Iraqi government forces.
He reported that US planes fired missiles within meters (yards) of the sacred Imam Ali mausoleum in the city.