Six men claiming to be Americans and two who say they are British are in U.S. custody on suspicion of involvement in attacks on occupation forces in Iraq, an American general said Tuesday. They would be the first Westerners reported held in the insurrection against the U.S.-led occupation.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who is in charge of coalition detention centers in Iraq, said the alleged Americans and Britons were considered security detainees, meaning they were suspected of involvement in attacks.
"We actually do have six who are claiming to be Americans, two who are claiming to be from the U.K. We're continuing the interviewing process. The details become sketchy and their story changes," Karpinski said, according to the AP.
Asked about the detainees at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said: "The truth is that the folks that we've scooped up have, on a number of occasions, multiple identifications from different countries. They're quite skilled at confusing people as to what their real nationality is or where they came from or what they're doing." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
