US troops release news editor of Iraqi Shiite party's TV station

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The news editor of a prominent Shiite-run television station was released Friday afternoon from US custody, two weeks after a raid aimed at disrupting Iranian-backed militia groups, a producer for the station told The Associated Press. Hafidh al-Beshara, the news editor and manager of political programming for Al-Forat TV, and his son were taken into custody after American forces, acting on a tip, stormed their house in Baghdad in February. Al-Forat is operated by Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC. Haider Khazim, a producer for Al-Forat, said al-Beshara was given no reason for his release and that his son remains in custody. The raid targeted his son, but al-Beshara was detained as well after an unauthorized machine gun was found on the premises, a military official said at the time.