Media group demands U.S. act on Iraqi photographer (held 7 months)

[Barrett808]

NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A U.S.-based media watchdog group on Tuesday demanded the Pentagon either charge or release a freelance Iraqi photographer working for a U.S. news agency who has been held for seven months.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that Bilal Hussein, 35, who was working for the Associated Press when he was taken into U.S. military custody in Iraq on April 12, has been denied due process.

"Detaining a journalist for seven months without allowing minimum due process represents an unacceptable infringement on the ability of the press to carry out its work," said Paul Steiger, chairman of the New York-based group.

"(It) is openly at odds with the message of democracy and respect for the rule of law that U.S. officials have publicly espoused in Iraq," Steiger added.

The Pentagon said in September that Hussein, who was detained in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, was considered a military threat with "strong ties to known insurgents" and that there was sufficient evidence to justify his continued detention.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07431997.htm

[BootinUp]

1. response: "Sorry we don't know who you are talking about"

[Barrett808]

2. Truly. n/t