Media News - Thursday, April 10, 2008

AP photographer granted Iraqi amnesty

An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him released nearly two years after he was detained by the U.S. military. Hussein, 36, remained in custody at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention facility near Baghdad's airport. A decision by a four-judge panel said Hussein's case falls under a new amnesty law. It ordered Iraqi courts to ‘cease legal proceedings’ and ruled that Hussein should be ‘immediately’ released unless other accusations are pending. It was unclear, however, whether Hussein would still face further obstacles to release. U.S. military authorities have said a U.N. Security Council mandate allows them to retain custody of a detainee they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed. The U.N. mandate is due to expire at the end of this year. Also, the amnesty committee's ruling on Hussein may not cover a separate allegation that has been raised in connection with the case. The amnesty committee — or any Iraqi institution — cannot force the U.S. military to release or turn over any of the estimated 23,000 detainees it holds in Iraq. But a provision in the amnesty law states that the Iraqi government ‘is committed to take the necessary measures to move the arrested people’ from U.S. control. (AP via ABC News)

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