Special to WorldTribune.com
WASHINGTON — Iraq has been detaining hundreds of foreign
contractors, including those hired to protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
Officials and executives said contractors who arrived in Baghdad
International Airport were undergoing severe interrogation and in many cases
detained. They said the airport detentions, which numbered 100 in early
January, reflected the policy of the Baghdad government in wake of the U.S.
withdrawal from Iraq in December.
“Detentions often last 24-96 hours or more,” the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said.
On Jan. 15, a U.S. trade group that represents scores of companies in Iraq, sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that expressed concern for the Iraqi detentions. The International Stability Operations Association said American contractors were being routinely stopped and held at checkpoints around Baghdad, including the entrance to the Green Zone.
“While private organizations are often able to resolve low-level
disputes and irregularities, this issue is beyond our ability to resolve,” the association said.
Congress has also been recruited to help the Americans, some of them assigned to help train the Iraqi military and police as well as protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. In December, several House and Senate members, including Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Peter King, intervened to help free two Americans detained for 18 days. The Americans as well as 12 Iraqi and a Fijian detainee were
employed by the U.S. private security contractor Triple Canopy.
“With the unfortunate and clearly deteriorating security situation in
Iraq and with Al Qaida in Iraq still very active, these men were in
increasing danger with each passing day,” King said.
King and other U.S. officials have assessed that the arrest of the
Western contractors reflected a power struggle within the Iraqi government.
They said neither the State Department nor the U.S. embassy has been
effective in stopping the detentions, attributed to new Iraqi immigration
regulations.
“Unfortunately, this detention is not an isolated incident, there are
recurring incidents of this nature and they are getting more frequent,”
Triple Canopy said. “Triple Canopy is relying on the U.S. and Iraqi
governments to work proactively and cooperatively to prevent future
incidents of this type.”
Officials have attributed the Iraqi detentions to Prime Minister Nouri
Al Maliki and his Shi’ite-led government aligned with Iran. They said Al
Maliki’s son has risen in prominence and was expelling Western contractors from the Green Zone.
The detentions have included men recruited by the State Department to
defend the U.S. embassy. The department has won approval for a 5,600-member
security force that would protect the embassy, diplomats and visitors.
On Jan. 16, Iraqi police released four U.S. embassy security officers
arrested in Baghdad. The officers were on what the embassy described as a
routine patrol, but what Baghdad Gov. Saleh Abdul Razak charged marked an
attempt to assassinate him.
“They were arrested near my house when they came to kill me,” Abdul
Razak said.
The State Department has acknowledged that the Iraqi detention policy
could continue. Officials said the U.S. embassy, which asserted that Iraq
was “strictly enforcing” new immigration and customs procedures, has been
helpless amid the arrest of the contractors and security guards.
“The embassy’s ability to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens
are arrested or otherwise detained throughout Iraq is limited, including in
and around Baghdad,” the embassy said. “The embassy has pushed for
consistency and transparency in the government of Iraq’s immigration and
customs procedures and urged American citizens to review their travel
documents to ensure that they comply with Iraqi requirements to help avoid
such incidents.”
100 American contractors have been detained by Iraq in 2012 added by World Tribune on
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