Reuters Journo Held by US in Iraq 8 Months

No charges against photographer; military cites insurgent ties
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2009 7:28 AM CDT
Reuters Journo Held by US in Iraq 8 Months
Ibrahim Jassam, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters for two years, poses last year in Baghdad.   (AP Photo/Mohammed Ameen, Reuters)

Amid the outrage over journalist Roxana Saberi’s detention in Iran, the US is holding a Reuters photographer in Iraq without charges, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ibrahim Jassam, 31, has been held since September “as the result of his activity with a known insurgent organization,” said a US military rep. An Iraqi court ordered his release in November, but the US is still holding him, calling him a “high security threat.”

“No one is suggesting that journalists should have a get-out-of-jail-free card," said the head of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "But if you accuse someone of something there needs to be a fair legal process.”
(More Ibrahim Jassam stories.)

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