U.S. military set to charge photographer in Iraq

The U.S. military says it will lay criminal charges against an award-winning Associated Press photographer who has beenjailed in Iraq for19 months on suspicion that he helpedinsurgents in the wartorn country.

Bilal Hussein, 36, was arrested on April 12, 2006,when he allowed people to take shelter in hisapartment in the central Iraqi city of Ramadi after a bomb exploded on a nearby street, according to the Associated Press and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

U.S. marines arrived soon after the explosion, seized Hussein's laptop and phoneand detained Hussein and his guests, some of whom were accused of being insurgents.

Hussein has since been held in the U.S. army's Camp Cropper detention facility in Baghdad, but he has never been charged orshown the specific evidence against him.

On Monday, the U.S. Defence Department said it has new evidence against Hussein, which it will not publicly releaseuntil it is formally filedwith an Iraqi court, where judges will decide if Hussein should be tried.

Hussein could end up in an Iraqi court as early as Nov. 29.

"[The U.S. military] has convincing and irrefutable evidence that Bilal Hussein is a threat to stability and security in Iraq as a link to insurgent activity," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morel said.

HeaccusedHussein of being a "terrorist operative who infiltrated the AP."

Hussein, an Iraqi citizen from Fallujah, began to work for the American news agency in the summer of 2004, a year after the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq. In 2005,Husseinwas amonga team of APphotographers who won a Pulitzer Prize for their work in the war-torn country.

The military has alleged previously that Hussein had materials for making roadside bombs and possessed insurgent propaganda and a surveillance photo of a U.S. military installation, according to the BBC. According to the AP, the military has also previously accused Hussein of providing false identification to a sniper who wanted to escape U.S. soldiers.

The AP said there is no evidence to support any of these claims.

Death penalty a possibility

AP lawyer Dave Tomlin said the agency needs to know the accusations, evidence and possible witnesses the military will be bringing against Hussein. Tomlin said under Iraqi law, a person convicted of aiding militants can face the death penalty.

"They are telling us nothing," Tomlin said. "We are operating totally in the dark."

AP president and CEO Tom Curley said he is concerned Hussein won't get a fair trial.

"While we are hopeful that there could be some resolution to Bilal Hussein's long detention, we have grave concerns that his rights under the law continue to be ignored and even abused," he said.

"The treatment of Bilal represents a miscarriage of the very justice and rule of law that the United States is claiming to help Iraq achieve. At this point, we believe the correct recourse is the immediate release of Bilal."

There have been public calls for Hussein's release from groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S.-based non-profit organization thatadvocates forthe rights of journalists worldwide.