CNN reporter, crew held captive as ‘spies’ by militia in Darfur

"CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward revealed that she and her team were held captive by a militia for two days while reporting in Darfur earlier this month.

The 44-year-old veteran war correspondent traveled to Sudan to report on the civil war, which has ignited a humanitarian crisis with more than 26 million people facing famine.
In an essay she penned for CNN, Ward said she and her team were detained by a militia led by a man who went by the moniker “the general,” just hours after arriving in North Darfur.
Ward, cameraman Scott McWhinne and producer Brent Swails were inside a vehicle when they were surrounded by armed fighters who angrily told them not to film on the scene.
Ward’s producer tried to defuse the situation but the general grabbed a rifle and fired off a round– apparently targeting a bird..... they were met by a rival militia and two trucks carrying rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.
The team’s driver was hauled off in chains to the town jail and the crew was interrogated individually for three hours in a “small, windowless room.”
After the questioning, Ward and her team were put in their vehicle and ordered to follow a convoy that was headed deeper into Darfur. The crew was then held for two days under the watch of armed men, some as young as 14, Ward wrote.After 48 hours, the general informed the CNN team that they would be let go, with the general saying, “We thought you were spies but now you can go home.” NYP