Iraqi Police Abduct Journalists

(Najaf, Iraq) Last night just after 9PM, Iraqi Police rounded up about 60 journalists from the Sea of Najaf Hotel and took them to the police station. Included were representatives from Arab and other international media, encompassing the BBC, the Guardian, the Independent, and the Times and Daily Telegraph. At the station, Police Chief Ghalib al-Jazae'ri commenced giving the journalists a good old-fashioned dressing-down. The Chief said,

[H]e was incensed by media reports in which Grand Ayatollah Sistani had allegedly urged his followers to descend on Najaf.

He said: "You are not under arrest but you will listen to us to see what disasters you have caused."

The police chief, whose father has been kidnapped by supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, said the police base had been repeatedly mortared and many of his officers killed. After half an hour, he allowed journalists to leave.

The journalists were then driven back to their hotel. End of story.

Watch, though, as the media tries to make this event to be a much bigger deal.