Reuters seeks information on Iraqi photographer's arrest
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Reuters is seeking additional information on the detention of a freelance photographer working for the international news agency in Iraq.
Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters on a freelance basis for about two years, was detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya by U.S. and Iraqi forces early on Tuesday morning, his family said.
They also confiscated photographic equipment, his sister Eman told Reuters.
Jassam also works for other Iraqi media.
A U.S. military spokesman declined comment on any charges Jassam may be facing, saying only that he is in U.S. custody.
"He was detained because he was evaluated as a security threat, and his case is now being evaluated," spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told Reuters.
Mahmudiya, some 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, was once one of the most violent areas of Iraq but security there has improved in step with a sharp drop in attacks across Iraq.
"We are concerned to hear about Jassam's detention, and urge the U.S. military to either charge or release him once an initial investigatory stage is concluded," Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger said.
"Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defense. Iraqi journalists like Jassam play a vital role in telling this story to the world," Schlesinger said.
Reuters and international media rights groups have previously criticized the military's refusal to deal more quickly with suspicions apparently arising from reporters' legitimate activities covering acts of violence.
The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi press rights group, urged the military to reveal where Jassam is being held and to say why he was arrested.
Last month, the U.S. military freed a cameraman working for Reuters after holding him for three weeks without charges.
It was the third time Ali al-Mashhadani, who also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio, had been detained.
(Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
