Associated Press Calls Suspect Abu Zubaydah a "Terrorist"

Abu Zubaydah is being held indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay, and he has not been convicted of a crime -- or even charged.

The Associated Press, which is usually more careful about these things, today referred to Zubaydah as a "terrorist."

A former CIA officer who told reporters he participated in the interrogation of terrorist Abu Zubaydah has been charged with leaking classified secrets about CIA operatives and other information to reporters.

The AP has changed it in a later version of the article, although the original one still appears on some sites. This new version refers to Zubaydah as a "top suspected terrorist" and "suspected al Qaeda financier."

The Washington Post, which sent out an email news alert this afternoon using AP's flawed language, now has its own article, terming Zubaydah an "alleged al-Qaeda operative," while Politico goes with "alleged al-Qaeda leader." The DOJ press release uses "terrorism suspect."

It's good that AP changed the language in its later versions, but the original version should be corrected. And this shouldn't happen in the first place.