Bilal Hussein finally released

Bilal Hussein (far right) at the Ramadi Government Center, September 2005, Hussein was taken into U.S. custody on April 12, 2006 from the Iraqi city of Ramadi and was held without charge, until Wednesday.


Released AP Photog Will Return To Work, But Not Now

By Joe Strupp

Published: Editor and Publisher April 17, 2008
NEW YORK Just released Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who was freed Wednesday by U.S. military officials in Iraq, will remain on the AP staff, according to Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll.

But editors are in no hurry to rush him back to work after two years being detained by Iraqi and U.S. officials in his home country.

"Bilal is going to rest up and have some time with his family and go from there," Carroll said Thursday. "Absolutely, he is an AP photographer, he still is."

Hussein, who was detained without charge in 2006 and was only recently ordered released by Iraqi officials, had gained international attention after numerous press freedom and human rights groups demanded his reaction. Carroll, executive editor since 2002, had also made his situation a top priority, at one point urging U.S. newspapers to editorialize for his release.

Allegations against him had included the vague claim that he had been too close to insurgents in Iraq. He was part of the AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography. AP officials had continuously pointed out that no substantial evidence or charges were ever levied against him.

Carroll declined to comment on specific evidence or other elements of the case, saying: "the most prudent thing to say here is we worked on his case and knew a lot about it and came to believe there was nothing there.

"It doesn’t matter what I think or what anyone else thinks," she added. "He got put into the process and an Iraqi judicial body ruled he should be released."

Despite having taken up Hussein's case as a top cause in her daily duties, Carroll declined to talk about the impact it had on her. "I don’t think it is appropriate to talk about how this affects me - this is part of my job," she said. "I have lots of feelings about how AP journalists put their lives on the line around the world."

Carroll said Hussein's case would not cause the news cooperative to pull back on Iraq coverage or change any of its policies for security or other approaches overseas. "We are constantly calibrating what we need to do to keep people safe and free to do their jobs," she said. "Nothing about this one will change how we cover Iraq."

She would not reveal Hussein's whereabouts or even if he remains in Iraq. She said he will be back on the job at some point. "Down the road, he has just gotten out of two-years' detention," she said. "We will talk about specifics in the future when the time is right."

Asked if Hussein or AP would seek any legal action against the U.S. for wrongful detention, she said: "it's not what we're about."