In a move Vice President Dick Cheney's foreign policy advisers won an internal administration tussle over what to do with the men, U.S. officials confirmed on condition of anonymity. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had argued for a quicker release but was overruled, partly out of concern not to make the release appear part of a deal involving the British, the sources said. The next review is not expected until July, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying.
Washington says the five, seized in a January 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Arbil, are linked with Iranian Revolutionary Guard networks involved in providing explosive devices used to attack U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran says they are diplomats and has demanded their release. The five are classified as detainees and will be treated like other foreign detainees picked up in Iraq, one official said. That means they will be subject to periodic review of their status, a process that means they will be held “certainly a good number of weeks,” and possibly for several months, the official said.