Detained AP photographer cited in US terror debate

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
A US Democratic congresswoman cited the case of an Iraqi Associated Press photographer imprisoned by the US military during debate Wednesday on a new prisoner treatment bill that she considers too harsh. Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York referred to Bilal Hussein, who has been detained in Iraq for more than five months, in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives. "He was accused of aiding and abetting the insurgency, but he has yet to be charged with any crime," Slaughter said. Hussein was arrested in Ramadi on April 12. The military said he was in the company of two alleged insurgents in an apartment where there were bomb-making materials and that he is being held indefinitely for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions, because of "strong ties" to insurgents that go beyond the role of a journalist.