Posted on 04/16/2008 10:46:45 AM PDT by SmithL
BAGHDAD, (AP) -- The U.S. military released Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein on Wednesday after holding him for more than two years without filing formal charges.
Hussein, 36, was handed over to AP colleagues at a checkpoint in Baghdad. He was taken to the site aboard a prisoner bus and left U.S. custody wearing a traditional Iraqi robe. He was smiling and appeared in good health.
"I want to thank all the people working in AP. ... I have spent two years in prison even though I was innocent. I thank everybody," Hussein said after being freed.
AP President Tom Curley said Hussein "is safely back with AP and his family, and it is a great relief to us."
"Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who supported us during this difficult and challenging period," Curley said. "Bilal will now be spending some quiet time with his family and resting up."
The U.S. military had accused Hussein of links to insurgents, but did not file specific charges. In December, military authorities brought Hussein's case into the Iraqi court system for possible trial.
But an Iraqi judicial panel this month dismissed all proceedings against Hussein and ordered his release. A U.S. military statement on Monday said Hussein is no longer considered a threat.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Wasn't he apprehended WITH insurgents?
I think it is WRONG of the media to use his last name.
After all, people might draw some link between Bilal Hussein and Brak Hussein Obama.
This story isn’t quite accurate. Hussein was released under an amnesty program. There was no finding of guilt or innocence.
AP has a vested interest in sheilding the public from the truth about their staffers.
The bottomline is he was propagandizing for the insurgents and got caught. He was punished and set free. I’m sure he’ll work doubly hard the rest of his life for cause of the west’s complete and utter destruction. It’d be over a lot faster if we operated like the Mexican Mafia instead of Trout Fishermen in America with our catch and release program.
Yes he was.
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