An NBC correspondent, cameraman, and soundman were held captive for three days near Fallujah, Iraq before being safely released Friday. The journalists were with a freelance Iraqi journalist who was also taken captive and released.
NBC does not mention the capture, negotiations, or release on its MSNBC website, and the news organization did not report the story while the journalists were being held by Iraqis. AP said the network chose not to report the capture “for security reasons.”
On Friday’s “Nightly News,” Tom Brokaw said, “We are happy to report tonight that four of our colleagues, NBC News journalists, kidnapped in Fallujah, now have been released. Correspondent Ned Colt, cameraman Maurice Roper, soundman Robert Colville, and Iraqi freelancer Ashraf Al Taie were detained Tuesday by a small group of armed Iraqis. But they were freed this morning with the assistance of local leaders after their identities as working journalists became clear. And they’re all in good health.”
Brokaw did not say why the network had not previously reported the kidnapping or why it took several days for the kidnappers to realize the four were working journalists.
On Saturday, Aljazeera reported:
They were released after talks involving locals and the Falluja Brigade, a team of former Iraqi army veterans brought in to control security inside the city, a US occupation military official said.
Major TV Johnson, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based just outside the city, said: “There was some good cooperation between the Falluja Brigade and the people of the city who didn’t want to see a repeat of March 31”, when four western security contractors were killed in the city, he said.
The Guardian (UK) has Saturday coverage.
U.S. Marines were critical of the NBC crew for venturing on their own in a hostile area.
Television Week reported:
A U.S. Marines press release datelined “Camp Fallujah” said: “The current level of security that exists in Fallujah poses significant safety risks for Western media. The I Marine Expeditionary Force does not encourage media to conduct unilateral reporting in Fallujah. The societal dynamics of the city and the tendency of its residents to be suspicious of outsiders places any unwitting nonresident who ventures into Fallujah in danger. The crew was apprised of the situation and advised not to attempt access to the city. Despite the advice of I MEF Marines, the crew ventured into the city and was subsequently detained by anti-Iraqi forces.Television Week also said: “Sources at other news organizations had heard that the NBC News crew dismissed its private security escort after hooking up with the Marines near Fallujah.”
“The crew’s decision to enter the city was irresponsible; luckily it did not cost them or anyone else their lives,” concluded the Marines release.
The news of the NBC crew’s capture and release comes on the same day that two Japanese journalists died when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade south of Baghdad. Including the Japanese journalists’ deaths, at least 32 journalists have died in Iraq since the start of the war. Recently, an Iraqi journalist working for NBC News was among those journalists who said they had been detained and abused by U.S. forces.
