WASHINGTON (AP) – An Iraqi lawyer who helped U.S commandos locate and rescue prisoner of war Jessica Lynch has been granted asylum in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced Tuesday.

Lynch, a 20-year-old Army supply clerk from Palestine, W.Va., was captured March 23 after her 507th Maintenance Company convoy was ambushed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. She was rescued from an Iraqi hospital in the city on April 1 after U.S. forces received a tip about her whereabouts from a lawyer known only as “Mohammed.”

Ridge identified the man as Mohammed Al Rehaief and said the lawyer and his wife and 5-year-old daughter arrived in the United States earlier this month after Homeland Security granted them “humanitarian parole.” On Monday, the family was granted asylum by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“Mr. Al Rehaief should know Americans are grateful for his bravery and for his compassion,” Ridge said during a luncheon address at the National Press Club.

Ridge said Al Rehaief put his life, and the lives of his family members, at risk by telling U.S. forces of Lynch’s whereabouts. “That was a humanitarian impulse,” he said.

Lynch suffered a head wound, spinal injury and fractures to her right arm, both legs and her right foot and ankle. She is being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

After Lynch was rescued, Al Rehaief, 33, and his family stayed at a refugee camp in Iraq until U.S. officials worked out a way for him to come to the United States, bureau spokesman Bill Strassberger said. The family arrived in the Washington area on April 10.

While granting humanitarian parole is not common, Strassberger said the status can be awarded for any urgent humanitarian reason, although it is most often used for foreigners in need of emergency medical treatment.

“Although the military is in control of Iraq, the situation was not stabilized over there to the extent we could assure his and his family’s safety,” Strassberger said. “We felt there definitely was grounds to provide additional assistance for what he was able to do to help Jessica lynch.”

“This is obviously a very unusual situation for immigration purposes,” he said. “But it was the fastest way of getting them to safety in the United States.”

With the grant of asylum, Al Rehaief and his family can remain in the United States indefinitely. In a year, he can apply for permanent residency and five years after that, he will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Ridge said Al Rehaief and his family hope to see Lynch, but the meeting has not been arranged. He said Al Rehaief should have no problem finding work in the United States, “given the man’s profile, given his heroism, given the goodwill he has earned.”

AP-ES-04-29-03 1534EDT