[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] announced [press release] Tuesday that the US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] has dropped its appeal of a September District Court order [opinion text, PDF] requiring it to publicly release more photographs showing detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, pursuant to an ACLU request [ACLU FOIA materials] under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [DOJ materials]. A supposedly-full portfolio of 279 photographs and 19 videos from the military's internal investigation were published [JURIST report] last week in a Salon.com report [text], which may have prompted the Pentagon to withdraw its legal action. DOD lawyers had previously argued that releasing the images could instigate a terrorist attack on US soil and would incite violence against US troops stationed in Iraq.

The DOD has now agreed [stipulation and order of dismissal of appeal, PDF], subject to judicial approval, to identify the 73 photographs and three videotapes at issue in the ACLU litigation, and the ACLU will release any of those photographs that have not already been published by Salon.com. Other materials obtained through the ACLU's FOIA requests can be found here. AP has more.