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| Iraq |
| US military still holding 9,000 Iraqi prisoners |
| 2009-08-31 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] The US military still holds about 9,000 Iraqi detainees, despite the fact that it is obliged to release or hand over the custody of all Iraqi prisoners under a Washington-Baghdad interim security pact. A statement by the US military said on Sunday that the US has released more than 5,000 Iraqi prisoners since the start of the year. However it adds that about 8,947 prisoners remain in US custody. "Since January, 1,179 detainees have been transferred to the government of Iraq with a valid warrant or detention order, and 5,236 have been released," a US military statement said. In line with an interim security pact signed between Baghdad and Washington in 2008, the files of all detainees in US custody must be handed over to the Iraqi authorities. According to the so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed last November, the fate of the detainees will rest with the Iraqi officials. The US military statement added that the prisoners in its custody are held in detention facilities run by US forces at Camp Cropper, Camp Taji, and Camp Bucca. The military says the number of prisoners, 8,947, is the lowest it has been since March 2005 and is down from about 27,000 in 2007. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Camp Bucca is set to close by the end of September. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2009-08-31 15:04 |