CBS Crew Tells of Iraqi Beatings

MIAMI —  Two members of a CBS television crew held captive by Iraqi soldiers said Sunday that they had been beaten while a third CBS journalist was being interrogated nearby.

Miami-based free-lance cameraman Roberto Alvarez and soundman Juan Caldera returned to Florida on Sunday and told reporters that they were used as pawns to force CBS chief Middle East correspondent Bob Simon, who was also held hostage, to answer questions.

“They opened the door and they hit one of us over the head, the body, whatever, so he could hear us,” said Alvarez, 37. They were beaten with canes and sticks, he said.

Alvarez and Caldera, 29, were part of a four-member CBS news crew that set out from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 20 and were captured by the Iraqis.

Three days later, Saudi soldiers found their equipment, personal belongings and $6,000 inside a gym bag. Iraqis kept them in four sites, including intelligence headquarters, before setting them free March 2 in Baghdad.

Also part of the crew was CBS News London bureau chief Peter Bluff. Bluff and Simon did not attend the Sunday news conference.