First footage of Bush’s Baghdad visit delivered by APTN

Associated Press Television News (APTN), delivered the first video of President Bush’s surprise Thanksgiving visit to US troops in Baghdad, beating other sources by more than 30 minutes.
APTN's images played coast to coast across America when networks broke into programming to show the unedited material live. Great credit goes to Senior Producer Jeff Schaeffer and Cameraman Drazan Simic, who had gone to the airport believing they were simply covering US Administrator Paul Bremer and US military commander General Sanchez having Thanksgiving Day dinner with troops. They knew something was up when they were relieved of mobile phones and two-way radios on "security grounds", but were still as stunned as anyone when Bush walked in.
They then proceeded to the Sheraton Hotel where the Thanksgiving celebrations took place. Bush spent two and a half hours on the ground before heading back to his ranch in Crawford, Texas. APTN’s team then had to endure a two-hour wait for Air Force One to leave Iraqi air space before being allowed to file their footage.
The news of President Bush’s visit was broken by AP White House correspondent Terry Hunt - who had been one of only 13 journalists on Air Force One – when he was allowed to file the first newsbreak from mid-air.
(GB)