'He has been detained because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces,' US army lieutenant Patrick Evans told AFP in an email.

A statement issued by Reuters said: 'Ibrahim Jassam, an Iraqi who has supplied photos and video to Reuters on a freelance basis for about two years, was detained in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya by US and Iraqi forces early on Tuesday morning.'

Following Mr Ibrahim's arrest in Mahmudiyah, Reuters demanded he be released or charged.

Mahmudiyah lies in the 'the triangle of death', a region once known for its extreme violence although the violence has now ebbed following a recent overall drop across the country.

'We are concerned to hear about Jassam's detention, and urge the US military to either charge or release him once an initial investigatory stage is concluded,' Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said in a statement.

'Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence. Iraqi journalists like Jassam play a vital role in telling this story to the world.'

Reuters said that Jassam's photographic equipment had also been confiscated.

The journalist's detention came one month after the US military freed a Reuters cameraman, Mr Ali al-Mashhadani, who also works as a freelancer for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio had been detained.

Mr Mashhadani was held for three weeks without charge.

A Media watchdog group said that Mr Ibrahim had been taken to an unknown location.

'His family still do not know why he was arrested,' Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement.

Iraq's press rights group, the Journalistic Freedom Observatory, also urged immediate disclosure of Mr Ibrahim's whereabouts.

More than 20 journalists have been arrested in Iraq in 2008, according to RSF.

All were released without charge, some after being imprisoned for months, it added.

'Simply possessing a camera or a film camera seems to be taken as evidence that some journalists are involved in terrorist networks,' the statement said.

'We are baffled by the lack of discrimination by the authorities.' -- AFP