diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/tools/FilterReads.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/tools/FilterReads.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b519af4c
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+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/tools/FilterReads.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package org.broadinstitute.sting.playground.tools;
+
+import net.sf.picard.cmdline.CommandLineProgram;
+import net.sf.picard.cmdline.Usage;
+import net.sf.picard.cmdline.Option;
+import net.sf.samtools.SAMFileReader;
+import net.sf.samtools.SAMFileWriter;
+import net.sf.samtools.SAMFileWriterFactory;
+import net.sf.samtools.SAMRecord;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+/**
+ * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
+ * User: asivache
+ * Date: Aug 11, 2009
+ * Time: 5:13:58 PM
+ * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
+ */
+public class FilterReads extends CommandLineProgram {
+        @Usage(programVersion="1.0") public String USAGE = "Filters reads: the output file will contain only reads satisfying all the selected criteria";
+        @Option(shortName="I", doc="Input file (bam or sam) to extract reads from.",
+                optional=false) public File IN = null;
+        @Option(shortName="O",doc="Output file (bam or sam) to write extracted reads to.",
+            optional=false) public File OUT = null;
+        @Option(shortName="U", doc="Select only unmapped reads if true; only mapped reads if false; both if not specified.",
+                optional=true) public Boolean UNMAPPED = null;
+        @Option(shortName="MINQ", doc="Select only reads with minimum base quality across all bases at or above the specified value.",
+            optional=true) public Integer MIN_QUAL = 0;
+        @Option(shortName="AVQ", doc="Select only reads with average base quality at or above the specified value.",
+            optional=true) public Double AVERAGE_QUAL = 0.0;
+        @Option(shortName="MAPQ", doc="Select only reads with mapping quality at or above the specified value (does not affect unmapped reads, use 'U').",
+            optional=true) public Integer MAPPING_QUAL = 0;
+        @Option(shortName="MAXE",doc="Select only reads with edit distance from the reference at or below the specified value ('NM' tags must be present in the input file).",
+            optional = true) public Integer MAX_ERRORS = INFINITY;
+        @Option(shortName="MINE",doc="Select only reads with edit distance from the reference at or above the specified value ('NM' tags must be present in the input file).",
+            optional = true) public Integer MIN_ERRORS = 0;
+
+        private static int INFINITY = 1000000;
+        UnmappedFilter uFilter;
+
+        /** Required main method implementation. */
+        public static void main(final String[] argv) {
+            System.exit(new FilterReads().instanceMain(argv));
+        }
+
+        protected int doWork() {
+
+            if ( UNMAPPED == null ) uFilter = UnmappedFilter.BOTH;
+            else {
+                if ( UNMAPPED.booleanValue() ) uFilter = UnmappedFilter.UNMAPPED;
+                else uFilter = UnmappedFilter.MAPPED;
+            }
+
+
+            SAMFileReader inReader = new SAMFileReader(IN);
+
+            SAMFileWriter outWriter = new SAMFileWriterFactory().makeSAMOrBAMWriter(inReader.getFileHeader(), true, OUT) ;
+
+            for ( SAMRecord read : inReader ) {
+                switch ( uFilter ) {
+                case UNMAPPED: if ( ! read.getReadUnmappedFlag() ) continue; break;
+                case MAPPED:   if ( read.getReadUnmappedFlag() ) continue; break;
+                }
+
+                if ( ! read.getReadUnmappedFlag() ) {
+                    // these filters are applicable only to mapped reads:
+                    if ( read.getMappingQuality() < MAPPING_QUAL ) continue;
+                    if ( MAX_ERRORS < INFINITY ) {
+                        Object attr = read.getAttribute("NM");
+                        if ( attr != null ) {
+                            int nm = (Integer)attr;
+                            if ( nm > MAX_ERRORS ) continue;
+                            if ( nm < MIN_ERRORS ) continue;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+
+                if ( MIN_QUAL > 0 || AVERAGE_QUAL > 0 ) {
+                    byte[] quals = read.getBaseQualities();
+                    double av_q = 0.0;
+                    boolean passed = true;
+                    for ( int i = 0 ; i < quals.length ; i++ ) {
+                        if ( quals[i] < MIN_QUAL ) {
+                            passed = false;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        av_q += (double)quals[i];
+                    }
+                    if ( ! passed ) continue;
+                    if ( av_q / read.getReadLength() < AVERAGE_QUAL ) continue;
+                }
+
+                outWriter.addAlignment(read);
+            }
+
+            inReader.close();
+            outWriter.close();
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        enum UnmappedFilter {
+            UNMAPPED, MAPPED, BOTH
+        }
+
+}
+
+