Baghdad, Sept 11: A female correspondent with the Arabic satellite network al-Jazeera was detained by US troops in Baghdad overnight, the television and a US military spokesman said today. Atwar Bahjat was arrested while covering a bomb attack in the al-Ghazzaliyah district of the capital and held in a US military holding area at Baghdad airport overnight, al-Jazeera reported. The Qatar-based television charged that her glasses and microphone had been scattered on the ground during her arrest last night that had been made "in a violent way".

A US military spokesman confirmed an al-Jazeera correspondent had been detained but declined to elaborate.

"We are aware that someone was detained from al-Jazeera but we don't know the circumstances," the spokesman said.

Bureau Report