Bilal Hussein To Go Free

The U.S. military says it will release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein after more than two years in custody.

The statement said Hussein will be freed Wednesday now that Iraqi judicial committees have granted him amnesty for all allegations.

Hussein has been in custody since April 12, 2006 when he was detained by U.S. Marines for alleged links to insurgents. The AP and Hussein deny any improper links and say he was only doing his job as a journalist.

AP President Tom Curley expressed relief after the statement issued by the military on Monday.

"In time we will celebrate Bilal's release. For now, we want him safe and united with his family. While we may never see eye to eye with the U.S. military over this case, it is time for all of us to move on," said Curley.

As I had previously reported, an Iraqi court determined that Hussein's situation came under the Iraqi General Amnesty law, which doesn't mean that he was innocent of the charges, only that the Iraqis have decided to move on in the spirit of reconciliation. The amnesty provisions were part of the US benchmarks on Iraqi political progress to bring more Sunni elements to the bargaining table.

Hopefully, we wont have to catch Hussein again in the presence of terrorists providing agitprop that gets picked up by the likes of the Associated Press.