GENEVA - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it had carried out its first visit to security detainees held by Iraq’s central government.Jakob Kellenberger, the ICRC President, said he hoped the visit to Fort Suse near Sulaimaniya in October would lead to a comprehensive agreement for access to the estimated 30,000-35,000 prisoners held by Iraqi authorities. “We were able to make the visit a few weeks ago. We are still in negotiations with them on an agreement,” Kellenberger told a news conference.
The neutral humanitarian agency had already visited some 20,000 prisoners held by American forces and semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in the north and had been seeking access to all Iraqi-run prisons, including those under the Shia-led Interior Ministry, for more than a year.