The US military has not disclosed what evidence it will present to an Iraqi court against Hussein and the AP has protested against the decision to press charges against the man who has been held for more than 19 months without charges.
He was arrested in 2006 in Ramadi along with several "strangers". US Marines, who entered his house later to use it as an observation post, arrested Hussein and the men in his house, two of whom were identified as suspected insurgents by the US.
At the time of his arrest, the Marines also confiscated his laptop and satellite phone.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said "new evidence has come to light" about Hussein, but would only say that the US military has "convincing and irrefutable evidence that Bilal Hussein is a threat to stability and security in Iraq as a link to insurgent activity" and called Hussein "a terrorist operative who infiltrated the AP".
Dave Tomlin, the AP associate general counsel, said: "That's what the military has been saying for 19 months, but whenever we ask to see what's so convincing we get back something that isn't convincing at all."
The AP has said it has been blocked from mounting a proper defence for Hussein, who was part of its Pulitzer Prize-winning photo team in 2005.
Tomlin said the AP has faced serious problems meeting up with Hussein at the Camp Cropper detention centre in Baghdad and that its own investigation led by a former federal prosecutor, Paul Gardephe, has concluded Hussein was doing no more than working as a journalist in a war zone.
Days before Hussein was arrested another unrelated Iraqi journalist was also arrested while filming the aftermath of a bombing in the northern city of Mosul. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, a Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News, was accused of working for the insurgency but acquitted after being held for a year.
Tom Curley, AP president and CEO, said: "While we are hopeful that there could be some resolution to Bilal Hussein's long detention, we have grave concerns that his rights under the law continue to be ignored and even abused.
"The steps the US military is now taking continue to deny Bilal his right to due process and, in turn, may deny him a chance at a fair trial. The treatment of Bilal represents a miscarriage of the very justice and rule of law that the United States is claiming to help Iraq achieve. At this point, we believe the correct recourse is the immediate release of Bilal."
Calls for his release have been backed by groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists.
.jpg)
.jpg)