this is a repost from a staff memeber @ AL JAZEERA-
This afternoon, after I was coming back to file after spending the morning and midday day chasing the story of police deploying to Cairo's streets, I called to check in and was told that they had found where we were and that we were continuing to broadcast, and that the detainment/arrests were happening at that very moment
I returned to the location (again, not going to say where) got out of my taxi, and coordinated with the other web producer on the ground here, who had just returned from reporting as well. I was told our team was outside on the street being guarded by some soldiers, and we determined that we would try to enter the building from another direction and avoid that situation.
As I walked along the street, I could see the team detained about 50 feet away. They were not handcuffed, no one was being mistreated or even touched for that matter, as far as I saw in those few seconds. I kept walking. The other web producer made it inside. I walked through a series of cramped side alleys (guys smoking shisha, cars inching through, goats, cows), made a big circle and got into the building as well. My colleague and I remained together in our room, coordinating with the other team members and with Doha headquarters to make sure we knew what was going on. Eventually, we determined we were safe, and not that much later, we got word that everyone had been released.
The detention of reporters represents a new height of press suppression in a country not exactly known for its free-speech protections (though more tolerant than many fellow Mideast governments). It was, the source added, "obviously an escalation" of a campaign against independent media, and a harrowing one at that.
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