U.S. security contractors have been
employed to interrogate Iraqi prisoners, according to an attorney for a U.S. soldier under investigation.
The private contractors were used to interrogate Iraqi
detainees in the Abu Ghaib prison north of Baghdad. The attorney for a U.S.
soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners said CACI International, based in
Arlington, Va., and Titan Corp. of San Diege, provided interrogators and
translators for interrogations at Abu Ghaib.
The assertion placed private U.S. firms deep inside U.S.-led coalition
operations in Iraq.
Until now, U.S. officials maintained that private
military and security
firms merely protected the Coalition Provisional Authority and
private companies in Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported.
Gary Myers, the attorney for Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, said he could
not determine the extent of the use of private contractors in the
U.S.-operated Iraqi prison. But he said this information would be disclosed
during any trial of his client or others accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Titan has employed translators for U.S. forces in Iraq, company
executives said. But they could not confirm that they were used in Abu
Ghaib.
