Iraqi Who Worked for Reuters Is Freed by U.S.

An Iraqi freelance photographer who worked for Reuters has been released by the United States military after 17 months in detention in Iraq, the news agency reported Wednesday. The Iraqi, Ibrahim Jassam, was reunited with his family after his release.

“How can I describe my feelings?” Mr. Jassam told Reuters by telephone. “This is like being born again.”

Mr. Jassam was detained in September 2008 during a raid by Iraqi and United States forces on his home in the town of Mahmudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Reuters reported. The Iraqi Central Criminal Court ruled in December 2008 that there was insufficient evidence to hold him. But the United States military refused to release him, saying it was not bound by the ruling because intelligence reports indicated that he was a security threat.

Reuters has said it asked about the evidence against Mr. Jassam but was told it was classified. “I am very pleased his long incarceration without charge is finally over,” David Schlesinger, the editor in chief of Reuters, said in a statement. “I wish the process to release a man who had no specific accusations against him had been swifter.” The United States military confirmed Mr. Jassam’s release but refused to provide any information about his case.

“The intelligence evidence that we have on him remains classified,” said Lt. Col. Patricia Johnson, spokeswoman for United States military detainee operations in Iraq.

Under a United States-Iraq security pact, the American military is required to hand over thousands of detainees to Iraq. About 6,000 detainees in United States custody are still waiting to be turned over to the Iraqi authorities. Since the United States-led invasion of 2003, the military has detained a number of Iraqi journalists working for international news organizations. None has been convicted in an Iraqi court.

In April 2008, the military freed Bilal Hussein, an Associated Press photographer who was part of a team that received a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography from Iraq. He was freed after a little more than two years in detention.