U.S. frees filmmaker it held in Iraq without charges

Cyrus Kar, an Iranian-American filmmaker who was held in Iraq by the U.S. occupation forces for nearly two months without being charged was released Sunday, officials said.

Kar, who’s among five other U.S. citizens who were held on suspicion of participating in rebel attacks in Iraq, was detained on May 17 near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, after the U.S. military found in the taxi he was driving washing machine timers, and claimed they are common component in improvised bombs.

Kar’s family filed a lawsuit against the federal government for violating his civil rights when it continued to hold him after the FBI cleared him of suspicion.

His cameraman, Iranian too, was also released while the taxi driver is still in custody, the military said.

"Kar was detained as an imperative security threat to Iraq," the military has claimed in its statement. "After his initial questioning, the military notified the FBI, who initiated an investigation to determine if Kar had engaged in ‘terrorist’ activities."

On July 4, the U.S. military convened a review board hearing to determine whether Kar was an "enemy combatant."

"Based on the FBI investigation, the testimony of Kar and the witness he called, and other witness statements, the board determined Kar was not an enemy combatant and recommended his release, which was approved," the statement said.

Kar's relatives said that they were told by the FBI weeks ago that he had been cleared and that the taxi driver was transporting the parts to a friend.

But the U.S. military continued defending the detention of Kar.

Kar, 44, was born in Iran but immigrated to Los Angeles, the United States, as a child. He served in the Navy and worked in the computer industry before shifting his interest to filmmaking.

According to his family, Kar started working on a documentary about the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great, and before his detention he interviewed experts and shot footage at archaeological sites in Afghanistan and Iran.