On November 21, state prosecutors briefly detained Khaled al-Obysan, a columnist for the daily Al-Seyassah, for defending former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in an article published in the paper's November 9 issue, The Associated Press reported. Al-Obysan said the death sentence imposed against Saddam by an Iraqi tribunal was a "medal on his chest and a brand of shame on the forehead of the American administration and its tools in the Arab world." Prosecutors also questioned Ahmed al-Jarrallah, the paper's editor-in-chief, according to AP. Prosecutors said the column threatened ties with Iraq and the United States. No charges were pressed.

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