Iraqi police have threatened to kill journalists trying to cover events in the Iarqi sicty of Najaf where a stand-off between US forces and a radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his supporters could turn in to an all-out battle.
Earlier today, Iraqi police arrested and later released an Arab journalist working with Al Jazeera television.
The Dubai-based station they had not been given an explanation correspondent, Ahmed al-Saleh's detention.
Witnesses also said police entered a hotel in the city where a number of foreign reporters are staying and threatened to kill them if they left the building.
"I will put four snipers on the roof to shoot anyone who leaves," a police lieutenant allegedly said. Police then fired into the air and pointed their guns at the hotel, the witnesses said.
One officer said they were also looking for the correspondents from Reuters and the Associated Press.
On Sunday, Najaf's police chief told local and foreign media to leave the city but government officials in Baghdad denied there would be a crackdown on the media covering the 12-day uprising.
Human Rights Watch condemned the actions and said if all the reporters left the city then only journalists embedded with US forces would be able to report on events.
Additional reporting: Reuters