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Re: WW II Fliers Ring Returned After 60 Years

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: July 09, 2003

"US holding only 23 prisoners seized by British troops in Iraq

London, July 9, IRNA -- The British government has clarified the fate of some 4,000 prisoners seized by UK troops in Iraq, saying all but 23 had been freed up at the beginning of this month.

"As of 3 July 2003, the United States is holding one prisoner of war and 22 other persons captured by British forces," Defense Minister Lord Bach said in a written reply to parliament Tuesday.

He said those being held were "either suspected of committing criminal offenses or are interned where necessary for imperative reasons of security in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention."

"All other British captured prisoners of war have been released under the supervision of British forces and with the knowledge of the International Committee of the Red Cross," Bach said.

The minister was replying to a written question from Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott, who had previously expressed concern that the prisoners "don't end up in a black hole like Guantanamo Bay."

Britain has an arrangement to hand over prisoners in Iraq to the US military under which Bach said the US had "agreed to treat persons in accordance with the relevant Geneva Conventions."

The defense minister further revealed that the UK has the "primary right to criminal jurisdiction for offenaes committed prior to transfer" and the US to jurisdictions afterwards, but he said the British government was not aware of any offenses since the transfers.

He was not more specific about the identity or charges made against Britain's 23 prisoners, but he had previously disclosed that 28 of the 4,000 originally captured included 28 non-Iraqi nationals.

In contrast to those held for crimes against coalition forces or for reasons of security, Bach said that persons suspected of other crimes were immediately handed over to Iraqi authorities.

©2000 Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). "