Fellow American Blogger and Friend Arrested in Beijing


My friend and fellow blogger, Brian Conley, has been arrested by the Chinese government in Beijing, the Committee to Protect Bloggers said on its website. Brian, the founder of Alive in Baghdad, was arrested while documenting the activities of New York artist James Powderly, who seems was planning a Tibet-themed event at the Olympics.

From this forum, I call on the free people in the word to raise their voice and demand the release of our friend whose media and blogging projects made a huge impact on raising the awareness in the world.

Update: (Thanks, Khalid)

In a email sent to Brian’s friends and supporters, Brian’s wife reported the following:

We just got word that Brian and friends are on a plane to Los Angeles, arriving Monday morning. He was released with 7 other US citizen detainees: Jeff Goldin, Tom Grant, Mike Liss, James Powderly, Jeff Rae, John Watterberg and Jeremy Wells.

blog.bassamsebti@gmail.com