Journalist detained

Washington, D.C.

State Department guards briefly detained a National Review Online reporter this week after he asked about a confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Reporter Joel Mowbray quoted from the cable at a press conference, embarrassing State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Boucher had just denied that U.S. officials had recommended closing a controversial program granting expedited visas to Saudis. The cable proved otherwise. The visa program, known as Visa Express, has come under fire since investigators determined that 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudi. The State Department said the half-hour interrogation of Mowbray was no big deal. “I don’t know what the meaning of ‘detained’ is,” an official said. “He was stopped by the guards and questioned about the cable.”

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