The wining photo was selected from a record of more than 63,000 images

AMSTERDAM, February 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A photo of a hooded Iraqi prisoner of war hugging closely his son at a U.S. detention camp in the southern Iraqi city of An-Najaf won the 2003 World Press Photo.

Taken by the Associated Press photographer Jean-Marc Bouju last March, the moving photo was chosen from more than 63,000 images by 4,176 photographers from 124 countries, CNN has reported Friday, February 13. 

The prisoner is shown in the winning image dressed in white and comforting his frightened four-year-old son in the detention camp surrounded by barbed wires. A small pair of sandals lies a few feet away in the sand.

Bouju, a French national, will receive the award and $12,700 at a ceremony in the Netherlands on April 25.

Bouju, 42, spent nine weeks in Iraq in March and May of last year as he was embedded with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, 3rd Brigade.

He told the Associated Press that the photo was made during a rare moment of humanity in a war zone.

"My little girl was four at the time and I couldn't help thinking what would she have thought in the same situation," he said.

Bouju wasn't able to get the prisoner's name and doesn't know where he or the child is now.

Palestinian Tragedy Tops List

"My little girl was four at the time and I couldn't help thinking what would she have thought in the same situation," Bouju

The incessant Israeli aggressions on the Palestinian people also topped the category of spot news singles.

Snapped by Palestinian photographer Ahmad Jadallah, from Reuters news agency, a photo of Palestinians lying dead after an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalya took first place in its category.

Another Reuters photographer, Dutchman Jerry Lampen, won the general news singles category with an image of a woman mourning her dead husband in Gaza.

And in Iran, the southeastern historical city of Bam, which was devastated by a killer earthquake last December, had a heartbreaking effect.

Iranian Atta Kenare, from Agence France-Presse (AFP), also won a spot news single with a father carrying his two sons to be buried after the earthquake.

Prizes were awarded in 10 categories during 12 days of judging in the Dutch capital.

The other 58 photographers who won World Press Photo prizes came from 23 countries. The categories ranged from general news to daily life and action sports. Their work will be displayed around the world and published in book form.