Bilal Hussein was seized in 2006

Iraqi judges have ordered the "immediate" release of an Associated Press news photographer who has been held by the US military for two years.

Bilal Hussein was detained on suspicion of helping Iraqi insurgents, but the panel dismissed the accusations.

The ruling said his case fell under a new amnesty law and ordered Iraqi courts to "cease legal proceedings".

AP president Tom Curley has said officials must "finally do the right thing" and free Mr Hussein.

AP says Mr Hussein was taken into custody in April 2006 after sheltering strangers in his home following an explosion near his home in Falluja.

Mr Hussein, an Iraqi, has been in US military custody every since.

Pulitzer prize

The four judges said Mr Hussein should be "immediately" released if no other charges were pending.

In November last year, the US military said it would recommend criminal charges against Mr Hussein.

The case was then passed to Iraqi judges who had to decide if he should be tried.

At the time, Mr Curley told the BBC he believed the US military simply wished to keep Mr Hussein in jail as long as possible.

He said the US did not want news coming out of Anbar province, which he called an "information black hole".

Mr Hussein was part of an AP photo team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

US officials say he had aroused suspicion because he was often at the scene of insurgent attacks as they occurred.

The US military has previously said Mr Hussein was detained for possessing materials for making roadside bombs, insurgent propaganda and a surveillance photo of a US military installation.





