"US releases Iraqi journalist it held for 17 months" by Associated Press | February 11, 2010
Photographer Ibrahim Jassam embraced his mother after he was released. (Thaier Al Sudani/Reuters)
A mother's love is the same wherever you go.
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi freelance photographer who worked for Reuters has been released by the US military after 17 months in detention in Iraq, the news agency reported yesterday.
Ibrahim Jassam, who took photographs and video for Reuters, was reunited with his family shortly after his release....
Jassam was detained in September 2008 during a raid by Iraqi and US forces on his home in the town of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of the capital, the London-based news agency reported.
The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled in December 2008 there was insufficient evidence to hold Jassam. The US military refused to release him, however, saying it was not bound by the ruling because intelligence reports indicated Jassam was a security threat.
Reuters has said it inquired about the evidence against Jassam but was told it was classified. It was not immediately known whether Jassam was told what evidence the US military had....
Try none.
Under a US-Iraqi security pact, the American military is required to hand over thousands of detainees to Iraq. About 6,000 detainees are still waiting to be turned over to Iraqi authorities.
Gee, you would think they are "terrorists" or something, huh?
Since the US-led invasion of 2003, the US military has detained a number of Iraqi journalists working for international news organizations. None has been convicted in an Iraqi court.
Also see: Occupation Iraq: Shoehorned Out of Prison
