Bilal Hussein and Salvatore Santoro

On Dec.15, 2004, shortly after being assigned to cover Ramadi, Iraq, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein took photographs of an Italian citizen named Salvatore Santoro, who had been killed by insurgents at a checkpoint outside of Ramadi. Hussein's photographs show the body of Santoro bound and blindfolded. No AP journalists witnessed Santoro's death.

The Facts

• Masked gunmen stopped AP journalists at a roadblock on a highway outside the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004. After determining the three were journalists, a group of about 30 fighters drove them in another car to a location in the desert.
  
  
• The journalists were shown a blindfolded body, propped up on a sandy incline.
  
  
• The journalists were told by the militants that the man had tried to run a roadblock on Monday, Dec. 13, 2004, hit and killed one of the gunmen, then crashed the car. The gunmen said they then "executed" the man.
  
  
• Two masked gunmen posed with their automatic rifles pointed at the body. An Italian passport and Lebanese residency permit that the gunmen displayed to the journalists identified the man as Salvatore Santoro, and a document from the Italian Embassy in Beirut seeking an Iraqi visa for the man called him an aid worker helping Iraqi children.
  
  
• After allowing the journalists to photograph the body, the gunmen brought the three back to the checkpoint and allowed them to leave.
  

See AP stories, photos, captions, video and video script about the incident below.

Find details about the U.S. military's detention of Bilal Hussein since April 2006 at http://www.ap.org/bilalhussein/

>> AP STORIES, VIDEO, PHOTOS
09/19/2006		Detention of AP photographer in Iraq stirs Internet debate The U.S. military's imprisonment of an Associated Press photographer in Iraq has spurred a new round of debate about the role of journalists in a war zone, especially those covering insurgents and terrorists.
12/16/2004		Iraqi militants say they shot Italian who tried to break through checkpoint BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi militants said they shot and killed an Italian citizen after he tried to break through a guerrilla roadblock on a highway outside the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi. Masked gunmen took three Iraqi journalists to a location in the desert outside Ramadi on Wednesday and showed them the blindfolded body, one of the journalists recounted. Photos showed the body of the man in jeans and a leather jacket, a white rag tied around his eyes, propped up on a sandy incline. Two masked gunmen posed with their automatic rifles pointed at the body ...
12/15/2004		AP Television News Video (4:09 Windows Media) An APTN cameraman shot this footage near Ramadi. A review of the video — shows Santoro was already dead.
12/15/2004		AP Television News Script: Militants show body of man they say is Italian citizen they killed STORYLINE: Militants in western Iraq claim they killed a man - thought to be an Italian citizen. Three local journalists working for the Associated Press were taken to a desert location near the town of Ramadi where militants posed with guns over an apparently lifeless body. The man's hands were tied behind his back and he was blind-folded. The journalists were shown documents which, the insurgents claimed, belonged to the man. The papers carried the name Salvatore Santoro .They included an Italian passport and a Lebanese resident's permit.
12/15/2004		AP Photos and Captions Four photos taken in the desert outside Ramadi, Iraq by AP photographer Bilal Hussein.
		ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
		Complete details are available in a 50-page report compiled by lawyer and former federal prosecutor Paul Gardephe.
		Read the Sept. 20, 2006 AP Statement on Salvatore Santoro
		See the Sept. 19, 2006 AP Statement on Salvatore Santoro
		Find AP stories and other material about the detention of Bilal Hussein by the U.S. military since April 2006 at http://www.ap.org/bilalhussein/