A friend of Dan Rather's, Perhaps?

From here:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- An Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News was acquitted Wednesday of insurgent activity, a year after being wounded and detained by the U.S. military after a car bombing.

A three-judge panel ruled there was insufficient evidence against Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, who was filming the bombing aftermath in the northern city of Mosul when he was apprehended.

But Hussein, 25, was returned to Abu Ghraib prison pending final U.S. military approval of his release. A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Kevin Curry, said he expected Hussein to be released by Thursday.

...For some reason, the fact that this guy works for CBS News doesn't surprise me:

Horton said the U.S. military claimed Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein had prior knowledge of the car bombing and celebrated with other Iraqis in the aftermath, chanting "God is Great!"

But prosecutors acknowledged there was not enough evidence and moved to drop the case.

In testimony to the panel, Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein said he was filming a celebration at a university in Mosul in April 2005 when he heard a car bomb explode. He said he called a colleague at a French news agency to find out more about the location, then raced to the site in a taxi.

He encountered American troops surrounding the area and waited until they cleared to go in and film, he said. After getting some footage, he said he heard people start yelling there were snipers in the area and he felt a shot.

"They shot me in the hip," he said of the American troops. "I tried to stand up, but I couldn't." (Yep... had to be those damned American troops... couldn't have been any of those nice "snipers" in the area)

After five minutes, troops arrived and took him to the hospital.

"All the time they were cursing me, and calling me a terrorist," he said. "I kept saying, 'I'm not a terrorist. I'm a correspondent.'" (Given the MSM's proclivities in this war, is there really any difference? Come to think of it, that could be a good Eckernet-style byline)

The U.S. military alleged that Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein was standing near a man waving a gun and inciting the crowd after the bombing. He denied that.

...And of course, in keeping with their loathing of the military, the AP goes on to make Hussein the victim, throwing Abu Ghraib into the mix:

Mohammed Younis Hussein said his younger brother was placed in solitary confinement at Abu Ghraib, deprived of sleep with interrogations after 2 a.m., and at times forced to face the wall in his cell. (LORD NOOooO!!!)

The military did not immediately respond to those allegations.

It was difficult for the family to visit the prisoner, he said, because the road from Mosul to Baghdad is so dangerous.

The family planned to take Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein out of the country "so he won't have to see a single American soldier in the street."

Done wiping your eyes yet? 

(Filed under the fifth column)