AP photographer in first Iraq court hearing

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi judge convened the first criminal hearing on Sunday against an Associated Press photographer who has been detained by the U.S. military without charges for nearly 20 months, the news agency said.

The U.S. military has accused Bilal Hussein, a 36-year-old Iraqi, of working with insurgents in Iraq. He was seized in April 2006 in Ramadi, capital of western Anbar province.

The award-winning photographer was present for most of the nearly seven-hour, closed-door proceeding in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, the AP said in a report from Baghdad.

It was the first time Hussein or his lawyers had seen any of the materials gathered by the U.S. military against him since his arrest, the news agency said.

Magistrate Dhia al-Kinani ordered that the proceedings and details of materials presented remain secret, the AP said.

Hussein's lawyer, Paul Gardephe, said no formal charges were lodged. Gardephe was permitted to see some material during the proceeding but was forbidden from taking any copies with him to aid in building his defence, the AP said.

"There is still no formal charge against Bilal, and The Associated Press continues to believe that Bilal Hussein was a photojournalist working in a war zone and that claims that he is involved with insurgent activities are false," AP spokesman Paul Colford said in a statement, according to the report.

"Because the judge ordered that the proceedings today be kept secret, we are restricted from saying anything further."

The agency had said the U.S. military would submit evidence to the Iraqi judiciary on Dec. 9.

PULITZER PRIZE

The AP has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Hussein, who was part of its photo team that won a Pulitzer prize in 2005.

It has said that under Iraqi law, an investigative judge would review the evidence and decide whether to dismiss the case or send it to a three-member court for trial.

AP President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Curley has written to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, expressing concern that Hussein's lawyer had not been given enough time and information to prepare his defence.

The U.S. military has said Hussein was detained for possessing material used to make roadside bombs, insurgent propaganda, and what it described as a surveillance photo of a coalition installation.

U.S. military spokesman Major-General Kevin Bergner said last month that Hussein's case had been reviewed several times by a board that periodically reviews the files of detainees. Hussein was still deemed a "security threat", he said.

Hussein is one of several Iraqi journalists who have been held by the U.S. military without being charged. Iraqi journalists working for Reuters have also been detained by the U.S. military for months and later released without charges.