He was identified by the US marines as Mobeen Muneef, 25, born in London but with Pakistani nationality. He had been held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, but has since been transferred to the Bucca Detention Facility in the Iraqi capital. The US military insisted that he was part of a group of foreign fighters "participating in suspicious activities" when he was apprehended by a patrol. The Times revealed on Thursday that two British citizens are currently being held in Iraq on suspicion of helping the insurgency. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has confirmed their detention.
One, a dual British-Iraqi national, was captured by British troops in November in southern Iraq and is being held in a detention centre at the main Shaibah military base on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. Mr Muneef, the second man, was captured by a US Marines patrol on December 7 in Ramadi, one of the main centres for the insurgency against the US-backed Iraqi Government. "The gentleman was detained after Marines spotted men passing a weapon over a wall in Ramadi," Captain Brad Gordon, of the US Marines in area, said. "When Marines approached the house, two men began to flee the house and were subsequently detained when they were found hiding in a shack near by. "According to one report, in their possession was an Iraqi pistol and four AK-47s. When he was detained he was found to have an Iraqi ID card which he admitted was fake.
"When questioned about his reason for being with other foreign fighters, he stated he was there to assist a humanitarian relief organisation. He had no other identification at the time of his detention and could not produce any credentials belonging to or the name of the relief organisation. "He was given a gun-powder residue test. He tested positive for gun powder residue, further indicating that he did have a weapon in his possession."
Captain Gordon told The Times that Mr Muneef should have the opportunity to contact his family from the Bucca Detention Facility. He added that the suspect would be questioned again about his reasons for being in Iraq and how he entered the country. Hundreds of suspected fighters were captured during November's assault on the city of Fallujah and the processing of the backlog of detainees is taking about 90 days.
The US military in Iraq says that it is currently holding about 325 foreign prisoners, who are treated exactly the same as Iraqi detainees. Most are volunteer mujahidin from neighbouring Arab countries, but Muslims from Western countries have also been captured and killed. At least two British volunteer fighters joined Shia Muslim militants in August to fight American forces in the holy city of Najaf.
The fate of Mr Muneef in Baghdad should be resolved in the next two months. When the investigation is complete his file will be put before a six-man Combined Review and Release Board. The three Iraqi officials and three officers from the multinational forces in Iraq will then decide whether he should be freed or remain in custody. However, it is possible that his detention and those of other prisoners will be prolonged. In the current atmosphere, detainees arrested in places such as Ramadi are unlikely to be set free any time soon.