AllThingsCNN is reporting that Michael Ware has left CNN. They are reporting that Ware is working on a new project that will be "worth the wait".

We have a request into CNN for comment but at this time haven't gotten a response as of this writing.

Michael Ware joined CNN in June 2006 as an International Correspondent in the Baghdad Bureau. In 2009 he moved to New York and became a correspondent also covering Mexico, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Update: A CNN spokesperson provides an official network statement, "Michael Ware is no longer with CNN."

Michael Ware, currently on a year-long leave of absence from CNN, will feature on ABC Australia's 'Australian Story' next week.

A press release and promo from ABC Television Australia is below...

In this special two part edition, a famously fearless reporter finally confronts his personal demons after a decade dodging bombs and bullets in warzones across the globe.

**EXCLUSIVE**

PRISONER OF WAR
Part I Monday September 13 at 8pm on ABC1
Part II Monday September 20 at 8pm on ABC1

“From sitting down with West Timorese, to spending endless hours with the Afghan Taliban; to have sat with Al Qaeda after 9/11… I’ve always found myself crossing into the unknown – to the darker recesses.” – MICHAEL WARE.

Michael Ware’s fearless reporting made him a star on U.S. television, but his exploits are little known back in his home country.

Over the past decade, Michael Ware has reported on conflicts all over the world. But it was his most recent assignments in Afghanistan and Iraq that made him a household name in America.

Formerly TIME Magazine’s Baghdad Bureau Chief, Ware has spent the past four years as a foreign correspondent for CNN. His unflinching candour and outrageous physical courage often rankled authorities, while his reputation as a fearless seeker of truth earned him respect from all sides of the conflict.

“Michael Ware has completed the equivalent of eight to nine combat tours – there is no soldier in our military that has done that…Michael Ware has done that.” – FORMER STAFF SERGEANT DAVID BELLAVIA, US ARMY INFANTRY

Adopting local guise, Michael immersed himself in the conflict, gaining the trust of all sides, by attending insurgent training camps, speaking with Al Qaeda and embedding with the US military.

Today, Michael remains the only Westerner to be captured and later released by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

After constantly cheating death, Michael has just returned home to Brisbane to start to heal the psychological scars, reunite with his young son, and deal with experiences and trauma that almost defy belief.

On Australian Story, he is telling his compelling personal story for the first time.

New York Times media writer, Brian Stelter, confirms that Michael Ware remains with CNN.

"Michael Ware has spent so much of the past nine years reporting from war zones for Time magazine and CNN that it’s almost like he’s a citizen of Iraq.

That experience, he says, has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. In an interview on Thursday, he said that CNN wanted him back in the field before he felt he was ready and, as a result, he was under the impression that he had been released from his contract. “I required further time off than I think CNN was able to give,” he said.

But there may have been a misunderstanding. On Friday CNN said that Mr. Ware is still employed by the network, disputing an unsourced report on a blog that he was no longer working for the network and that the disorder was a reason.

“We will continue to support him during this time,” the cable news network said in a statement. The network said it was “rightly regarded as an industry leader” in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that it offers support services to past and present employees.

Mr. Ware’s agent, Richard Leibner, said, “They are clearly standing with him now.”"

Earlier: Michael Ware Exits CNN?

MickWare.info reports that Michael Ware has left CNN...

"In addition to having taken a break to work on his book, it is no secret that he has been grappling with PTSD, brought on from the hellish years he worked in Baghdad. Unfortunately, when he needed more time off in order to deal with things, his request was denied. So he will not be returning."

You can read more on the story from the related Michael Ware blog.

CNN Pressroom - ‘Keeping Them Honest’ Examines Progress in Iraq, War on Terrorism in Days Preceding Petraeus Report

Amid the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, and an impending progress report from Gen. David Petraeus about the war in Iraq, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and a team of CNN’s top correspondents travel to Afghanistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia to take full stock of the war on terrorism. As part of the coverage, Cooper will be embedded with U.S. troops as he reports from the front line in an area near Baghdad known as the “Triangle of Death.”

Cooper, who returns to the region for his fourth time, will anchor Anderson Cooper 360° live from Iraq from Monday, Sept. 10, to Friday, Sept. 14, from 10 p.m. to midnight (ET).

During the week, Congress expects to hear testimony from Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker about Iraq’s political and military situation. Petraeus’s final report on the status in Iraq is due to the White House at the end of the week. The program will check in with CNN’s Iraq Fact Desk to separate fact from political spin.

“In the days preceding the Petraeus report and testimony, we are going to Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East to evaluate what is working and not working in the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism,” said David Doss, senior executive producer of Anderson Cooper 360°. “In an ongoing effort to ‘Keeping them Honest,’ our team of reporters will provide viewers with the latest information from Iraq as the general and others are testifying on Capitol Hill.”

In Iraq, correspondent Michael Ware examines new power secured by the former ruling minority Sunni’s and if that power will plunge the country further into civil war. Ware also provides a report on the growing number of unclaimed dead bodies in Iraq. Correspondent Arwa Damon provides reports from an embed assignment in Iraq. Correspondent Gary Tuchman embeds with the U.S. Air Force to offer a series of reports on current military strikes and military training of Iraqi cops and a profile of the busiest trauma center in Iraq.

In Saudi Arabia, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson reports on the Saudi’s biggest bust of Al Qaeda this year, which involved the arrest of more than 90 suspects and the seizure of more than $5 million in cash and a secret arms dump. His reports include a rehabilitation program designed to convert Al Qaeda recruits and the growing conflicts among Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.

Robertson will also embed with U.S. Army troops in Afghanistan to provide the latest on the fight with both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, as well as the continued hunt for Osama bin Laden. The program also reports on developments in Pakistan, where President Gen. Pervez Musharraf faces re-election and the threat of having to share control of this nation.

Anderson Cooper 360° is an in-depth, comprehensive news program that takes a full 360-degree look at the world’s events. The program showcases CNN’s worldwide newsgathering capabilities as well as Anderson Cooper’s unique sensibilities and perspective through a diverse range of live reports and interviews. Anderson Cooper 360° airs on CNN/U.S. each weekday from 10 p.m. to midnight. (ET)

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Todd Benjamin

Max Foster

Paula Newton

Michael Ware

Thanks to Bill for the tip!