[CitizensTruth] ARTICLE-US forces free AP camerman

[Walterb306 at cs.com]

All,

Freedom of the press?

Beverley

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLL66180720080823?feedType=RSS&
feedName=worldNews

U.S. forces free AP cameraman in Iraq
Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:55pm EDT  

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces freed a cameraman for the Associated Press 
in Baghdad on Saturday after holding him for three months without charge, the 
news agency said. Ahmed Nouri Raziak, 38, was handed over to representatives of 
the Associated..."; 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces freed a cameraman for the Associated Press in 
Baghdad on Saturday after holding him for three months without charge, the 
news agency said.


Ahmed Nouri Raziak, 38, was handed over to representatives of the Associated 
Press at a U.S. military compound in Baghdad. He had been detained by U.S. and 
Iraqi forces at his home in the northern city of Tikrit on June 4, the agency 
said in a report from Baghdad.
Raziak's release comes two days after the military freed an Iraqi cameraman 
for Reuters, Ali al-Mashhadani, who was held for three weeks without charge 
after being arrested while renewing his credentials at a U.S. military press 
office.


As in Mashhadani's case, the U.S. military said it believed Raziak posed a 
threat, but concluded after a review that he did not. It did not elaborate.


"We are glad Ahmed has been released," said Kathleen Carroll, AP's executive 
editor, according to the agency's report. "We will be seeking more specific 
information about why he was picked up and held and about his experience during h
is incarceration."
Last month, AP said it had been told by the military that Raziak would be 
held for at least six months. It said the military gave no explanation for the 
reversal.


The U.S. military say the U.N. mandate authorizing its presence in Iraq 
allows it to hold anyone it deems a threat indefinitely. U.S. forces are now 
holding about 21,000 Iraqis without charge.


In April the U.S. military freed Bilal Hussein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning 
Iraqi AP photographer who had been held for just over two years.
(Reporting by Peter Graff; Editing by Caroline Drees)
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved


   
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/citizenstruth/attachments/20080824/2c5cbd10/attachment.html>