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U.S. hands over last detainee to Iraq WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 16, 2011 2:56pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States handed over its last detainee in Iraq to Iraqi authorities on Friday, a White House official told Reuters, after months of failed efforts by Washington to convince Baghdad to allow his extradition for trial.
White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Washington had received assurances that Ali Mussa Daqduq, a suspected Hezbollah operative, would be tried for his crimes. Daqduq is accused of orchestrating a 2007 kidnapping that resulted in the killing of five U.S. military personnel.
"As of this morning, he's been transferred to Iraqi custody," Vietor said.
U.S. lawmakers fear that Iraq will be unable to hold Daqduq for long. They urged the Obama administration in July to do everything possible to secure his transfer to U.S. custody.
Vietor said U.S. officials worked hard with Baghdad to find a way to bring him to trial by a U.S. military commission "because we felt that was fastest possible way to bring him to justice."
"We've worked this at the highest levels of the U.S. and Iraqi governments and we continue to discuss with the Iraqis the best way to ensure that he faces justice," Vietor said.
The transfer of Daqduq, who was born in Lebanon, to Iraqi custody represents one of the risks the United States faces in ending the nearly nine-year-old war, with all American troops due out of the country this month. Lawmakers including Senator John McCain have warned they fear Daqduq will return to the battlefield.
A senior Iraqi officer last month told Reuters about efforts by individuals in Lebanon and Iran to win custody of Daqduq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also acknowledged that Iraq retaining custody was not the ideal solution, telling Congress last month that Daqduq would face "better justice" in the United States.
Panetta was in Baghdad on Thursday for the ceremony formally ending the Iraq war, in which almost 4,500 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives.
U.S. military officials had hoped to leave several thousand American military trainers behind to assist Iraq, but Baghdad and Washington failed to reach an agreement on this. The troop deal fell apart over U.S. demands that parliament approve legal guarantees to protect U.S. forces from prosecution in Iraq.
The Daqduq deal fell apart over similar sovereignty concerns, sources tell Reuters, with Baghdad unwilling to cede custody to the United States of an individual it saw as an Iraqi prisoner.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the bloodier days of sectarian slaughter when suicide bombers and hit squads claimed hundreds of victims a day as the country descended into tit-for-tat killings between the Sunni and Shi'ite communities.
In 2006 alone, 17,800 Iraqi military and civilians were killed in violence.
Iraqi security forces are generally seen as capable of containing the remaining Sunni Islamist insurgency and the rival Shi'ite militias that U.S. officials say are backed by Iran.
But attacks now target local government offices and security forces in an attempt to show the authorities are not in control.
(Reporting By Phil Stewart; Editing by Sandra Maler and Philip Barbara)
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(Reuters) - The United States handed over its last detainee in Iraq to Iraqi authorities on Friday, a White House official told Reuters, after months of failed efforts by Washington to convince Baghdad to allow his extradition for trial.
White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Washington had received assurances that Ali Mussa Daqduq, a suspected Hezbollah operative, would be tried for his crimes. Daqduq is accused of orchestrating a 2007 kidnapping that resulted in the killing of five U.S. military personnel.
"As of this morning, he's been transferred to Iraqi custody," Vietor said.
U.S. lawmakers fear that Iraq will be unable to hold Daqduq for long. They urged the Obama administration in July to do everything possible to secure his transfer to U.S. custody.
Vietor said U.S. officials worked hard with Baghdad to find a way to bring him to trial by a U.S. military commission "because we felt that was fastest possible way to bring him to justice."
"We've worked this at the highest levels of the U.S. and Iraqi governments and we continue to discuss with the Iraqis the best way to ensure that he faces justice," Vietor said.
The transfer of Daqduq, who was born in Lebanon, to Iraqi custody represents one of the risks the United States faces in ending the nearly nine-year-old war, with all American troops due out of the country this month. Lawmakers including Senator John McCain have warned they fear Daqduq will return to the battlefield.
A senior Iraqi officer last month told Reuters about efforts by individuals in Lebanon and Iran to win custody of Daqduq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also acknowledged that Iraq retaining custody was not the ideal solution, telling Congress last month that Daqduq would face "better justice" in the United States.
Panetta was in Baghdad on Thursday for the ceremony formally ending the Iraq war, in which almost 4,500 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis lost their lives.
U.S. military officials had hoped to leave several thousand American military trainers behind to assist Iraq, but Baghdad and Washington failed to reach an agreement on this. The troop deal fell apart over U.S. demands that parliament approve legal guarantees to protect U.S. forces from prosecution in Iraq.
The Daqduq deal fell apart over similar sovereignty concerns, sources tell Reuters, with Baghdad unwilling to cede custody to the United States of an individual it saw as an Iraqi prisoner.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the bloodier days of sectarian slaughter when suicide bombers and hit squads claimed hundreds of victims a day as the country descended into tit-for-tat killings between the Sunni and Shi'ite communities.
In 2006 alone, 17,800 Iraqi military and civilians were killed in violence.
Iraqi security forces are generally seen as capable of containing the remaining Sunni Islamist insurgency and the rival Shi'ite militias that U.S. officials say are backed by Iran.
But attacks now target local government offices and security forces in an attempt to show the authorities are not in control.
(Reporting By Phil Stewart; Editing by Sandra Maler and Philip Barbara)
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