BILAL - A.P. PHOTOGRAPHER TO GO ON TRIAL IN IRAQI COURT

An award-winning Iraqi photographer working for the Associated Press who was taken into custody by U.S. troops in Ramadi 19 months ago will be turned over to an Iraqi court for criminal prosecution, a Pentagon press officer said Monday. Although the A.P. has long contended that no evidence exists to support the military's claim that the photographer, Bilal Hussein, was connected with Iraqi terrorist groups, the press officer, Geoff Morrell, maintained Monday that a "range of evidence" now exists that "Hussein is a terrorist media operative who infiltrated the A.P." Hussein was a member of an AP team of photographers that won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography in Iraq in 2005 and his photos have widely appeared in print and television. The military has not informed A.P. lawyers of the charges to be brought against Hussein, and A.P lawyer Paul Gardephe, a former federal prosecutor, complained in an interview with Editor & Publisher: "This makes it impossible to put together a defense. ... At the moment, it looks like we can do little more than show up ... and try to put together a defense during the proceedings."

20/11/2007