Freelance television cameraman Samir Mohammed Noor, who was arrested by Iraqi troops at his home in the northern town of Tal Afar four months ago, was found to be "an imperative threat to the coalition forces and the security of Iraq" at a secret hearing last week, a U.S. military spokesman said.

He is at the Camp Bucca internment camp in southern Iraq and his case would be reviewed within six months, Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill said. U.S. officials have repeatedly refused to disclose what accusations have been made against him.

"The authorities need to specify the charges against him and allow him to address those charges openly, with a lawyer of his choosing," Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger said.

"Otherwise we shall continue to demand his release since we have been shown nothing to shake our view of him as an honest journalist engaged in the legitimate pursuit of his profession."

Samir is one of at least four journalists for international media being held without charge by the U.S. military in Iraq. Another is Ali Omar Abrahem al-Mashhadani, also a cameraman for Reuters, who was arrested in the western city of Ramadi seven weeks ago and ordered detained at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

Iraq's justice minister, whose officials sit with U.S. officers on the Combined Review and Release Board (CRRB) which controls the internment of some 10,000 Iraqis, has voiced misgivings about the system and complained that, contrary to U.S. statements, his government has little say in the matter.

Abdul Hussein Shandal has also called for special consideration to be given to journalists to allow them to report from all sides in the Iraq conflict. U.S. commanders say they will give no special consideration to bona fide journalists when reviewing suspicions against them.

Reuters' Schlesinger said: "I am extremely concerned at the lack of transparency and due process in the procedures that have led to two legitimate journalists in our employ being held without any public airing of the specific charges against them."

U.S. network CBS has raised concerns over its cameraman in the northern city of Mosul. Abdul Amir Younes Hussein was arrested in hospital in April after he was shot by U.S. troops.

An Iraqi court has since said his case does not justify prosecution, CBS says, but the CRRB last week ordered his continued detention.

"We are concerned that he had no legal representation at the hearing and has had no chance to see the evidence against him," CBS said in a statement. "CBS News has made ongoing requests to the Department of Defence for a hearing of the evidence against him and due process in the adjudication of his case."

SEVERAL JOURNALISTS HELD

Journalists for other international media, including Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, have been detained for many months before being released without charge.

Relatives said both Reuters cameramen were arrested during random searches of their homes when troops came across images on their cameras. In the Tal Afar case, his family say Samir, a 30-year-old father of four, was so badly beaten by Iraqi troops that he was handed to U.S. soldiers unconscious in a blanket.

Majid Hameed, a correspondent in Ramadi for Arabiya television and also a freelance reporter for Reuters, was detained earlier this month. U.S. forces have yet to explain the grounds for his arrest or give his current whereabouts.

U.S. military detentions without trial in Iraq have also drawn condemnation from international media rights groups.

The U.S. military cites U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546 from 2003 as the legal basis for its detentions.

More than 1,000 prisoners held at Abu Ghraib will be released over the coming week at the request of Iraqi authorities as a goodwill gesture to mark Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, the U.S. military said on Monday.

"These detainees were selected for release following a careful and thorough review of their files by a special Iraqi-led review board which determined they had not committed serious crimes," the military said.

Justice Minister Shandal has disputed the description of the CRRB, on which in principle three U.S. soldiers and six Iraqi officials sit, as "Iraqi-led". Iraqi officials say the U.S. side has a veto on any decision and the Iraqis are not free to bring cases before the board for review without U.S. approval.