Hans Rustad Associated Press’ advokat sier den amerikanske hærens anklager mot AP-fotograf Bilal Hussein enten er falske eller villedende. Bilal har sittet 19 måneder i fangenskap. Han ble sist avhørt for halvannet år siden.
Hvis saken er så dårlig fundert som AP hevder, kan den bli en belastning for amerikanske militære.
De hevder at Bilal Hussein arbeidet for opprørerne i Irak under dekke av å være fotograf. Det er påstander AP tilbakeviser. De militære hevder Hussein timet sitt arbeid med opprørerne slik at han fikk tatt bilder med stor propagandaverdi.
Advokat Paul Gardephe gjennom gikk alle bilder Hussein tok: ca. 1.000.
«The best evidence of how Hussein conducted himself as a journalist working for AP is the extensive photographic record,» Gardephe wrote. «There is no evidence — in nearly a thousand photographs taken over the 20-month period — that his activities ever strayed from those of a legitimate journalist.»
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Despite U.S. military claims that insurgents granted Hussein «unusual access,» the overwhelming majority of his photographs showed scenes readily visible to any passer-by, such as bombed-out buildings, injured civilians and funerals, Gardephe said. He reviewed all of the nearly 1,000 photo images submitted by Hussein while he was working for the AP, of which only 420 were distributed. Fewer than 10 percent of those 420 show either known or possible insurgents.
His report found no photographs synchronized with an explosion or other attack, and no other photographic evidence that he was ever tipped off to insurgent activity.
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_The report rejected the military’s contention that Hussein possessed bomb-making materials. Gardephe said this allegation appeared to be based solely on the fact that Hussein, after being arrested at his Ramadi apartment, was taken to an electrician’s shop on the ground floor and photographed next to equipment and broken appliances.
«There is no evidence that Hussein had any access to or connection with that shop and storage room; the doors of both were locked before the USM (U.S. military) smashed them in,» the report said. «Both the owner of the building and Hussein himself told us that the shop was owned and operated by an electrician who had left Ramadi six months to a year earlier.»
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De militære hevdet at Hussein forsynte en sniper med falsk ID, men Gradephe sier: falsk ID er lettvint å få tak i Irak, hvorfor skulle Hussein ta risken på det?
Anklagen om bombemateriell virker å være bevisst manipulert. Det samme gjelder påstander om at Hussein bidro til at to arabiske journalister ble kidnappet.
_The U.S. military has suggested that Hussein may have played a role in the kidnapping of two Arab journalists in March 2006. The AP report said Hussein simply brought the two men to safety, at the request of another journalist who had telephoned him with news of their release.
The report noted that the AP had spoken with both journalists, neither of whom had been contacted by the U.S. military. «They emphatically stated that Hussein was not involved in their kidnapping and that he in fact brought them to safety,» it said.
Det eneste punkt hvor det kan reises tvil om Hussein gjelder de to personene som skal ha vært i leiligheten hans da han ble arrestert. Den ene skal ha vært en opprørsleder. Hvorvidt Hussein kjente ham og hans virksomhet er uklart.
_At the time of his arrest in Ramadi, Hussein had two guests in his apartment, one of them an alleged insurgent leader named Abu Moadh. According to the AP report, Hussein said he had never met Abu Moadh before that day, and had offered him refuge in his apartment during a chance encounter on the street as people were fleeing from a bombing nearby.
The U.S. military contends that Hussein «gave conflicting answers during his interrogations when asked whether he ‘knew’ these two men,» the report said. «The issue, however, could turn on a miscommunication or mistranslation as to the meaning of the word ‘know.’ Hussein told interrogators initially that he ‘knew of’ these insurgent leaders, but he did not mean to suggest that he had had personal dealings with them.»
Amerikanerne oversender saken hans til en irakisk domstol 29. november. Men fremdeles vet ikke AP hva anklagene vil gå ut på.
Hvis det viser seg at saken er uten substans, er det lite flatterende for amerikanske militære.
