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Freed Journalist Feared for LifeWed, April 02, 2003Source: Ananova NewsThe freed British journalist who was held by Iraq on suspicion of spying says he feared for his life.The freed British journalist who was held by Iraq on suspicion of spying says he feared for his life.Matthew McAllester, 33, was released after a week in a Baghdad prison. He was with his colleague Spanish photographer Moises Saman. His newspaper, the New York-based Newsday, published an interview with him in which he said: "We thought we were going to be killed at any moment." Iraqi intelligence officials took the pair from their Baghdad hotel room on March 24. They were handcuffed and taken to Abu Ghraib prison just outside the capital. Mr McAllester, who was born in London but grew up in Edinburgh, said he was interrogated several times by up to 12 Iraqi officials. "I was accused of being dishonest and my future depended on my becoming honest." Interrogators attempted to make him sign a statement in Arabic, but he refused and instead wrote one in English explaining that he was not sent by the CIA or on any mission. The journalists were held in a small, separate cells and were not allowed to speak to each other. They often felt bombs exploding nearby during allied raids, which were sometimes close enough to make the cells rumble. "There were beatings and torture going on outside our cells, in the corridor." |
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