AP's Bilal Hussein Appears to Stage Corpse Photos

Editor's note: Dan Riehl has uncovered some more apparent photo staging by AP photographer Bilal Hussein. Due to the graphic nature of the photos involved, we aren't posting the photos to the front page. Click the "read more" link to follow the story...

Note, two of the pics are dated Jan 29 one Jan 28. This is hideous. It looks almost as though he was at the same location on different days as more people were executed. This is not some place Hussein just happened upon. Though he may not have manipulated the bodies himself if there was a passage of time. But these are relatively fresh kills when he photographed them. The original posting did not have a date.

When I say staged, I don't just mean using children as a backdrop for Bilal Hussein's pictures of corpses. I mean he moved the bodies to stage the photos to get more children into the shot. I regret having to post these gruesome pictures, but there's no other way to prove it.

Picture 1.

** EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT ** Iraqi youths stand next to five dead bodies in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005. Insurgents claimed the men worked for the Americans. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Evidently there weren't enough children in the photo for Bilal Hussein, so here he changed the angle and recruited some more children to post with the bodies. But even this below didn't satisfy Hussein's award winning eye. He even managed to get the children to smile and pose.

Pic 2

(AP photo and verbatim caption) Iraqi youths stand next to five dead bodies in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005.

Now look at this image below as compared to image 1 above. In Pic 1 there is no body up on the ledge. The short metal railing and the boy confirm this is the same place, these are the same dead bodies. But one of the dead men has somehow managed to climb up onto the ledge, dragging his legs over another corpse, all so Hussein could get a better picture. Is this the standard AP practice? They've certainly defended Hussein enough. I'd like to hear them defend this!

The corpse in the white tee shirt has been dragged several feet up onto the eldge, the legs gruesomely posed over the head of another body, the one in the blue or denim pants. And if you look between the bystanders, the other bodies don't appear to even be there. Yet, these are some of the same children. It's the same location. One picture is dated Jan 28 two others Jan 29 - what was this, his drop zone?

Or is arranging dead bodies part of the AP Style Book these days?

** EDS NOTE GRAPHIC CONTENT ** Iraqis gather next to dead bodies found on the street in the morning, in Ramadi, 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Friday, Jan. 28, 2005. A message from the insurgents was found near the bodies, but was taken away by the U.S. troops. The al-Qaida terror network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi issued a fresh warning Friday against this weekend's national balloting, telling Iraqis that they will only have themselves to blame if they are killed or injured in election day attacks. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)