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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Hezbollah commander held in Baghdad by the
U.S. military and considered a threat to American troops could be
transferred soon to Iraqi authorities, and U.S. security officials
worry he could escape or even be freed.
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Ali Mussa Daqduq worked with Iranian agents to train Shiite
militias who targeted American soldiers in Iraq, according to the
U.S. military. He was captured in 2007.
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The U.S. planned to try Daqduq in an American court, but that
stalled as the White House and Congress clashed over how to
prosecute suspected terrorists.
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Iraqi Justice Ministry spokesman Haidar al-Saadi said Wednesday
that Daqduq will be transferred to Iraqi custody at week’s end.
U.S. officials said the handover probably wouldn’t happen this
week.
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Daqduq is one of about 10 remaining U.S. prisoners who, under a
2008 agreement between Washington and Baghdad, must be transferred
by the end of 2011. U.S. officials acknowledged that his transfer
is required.
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Iraq’s shoddy record on detainee security and its recent efforts to
improve diplomatic ties with Iran have made U.S. authorities
skittish about turning over Daqduq.
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Just a week after the U.S. turned its prison at Camp Cropper over
to Iraqi control in July 2010, four al-Qaida-linked detainees
escaped. An investigation showed that the detainees had inside
help.
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The same was true again in May in an aborted escape from one of
Baghdad’s most heavily fortified prisons that left 17 inmates and
guards dead, including a counterterrorism general.
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Under President George W. Bush, U.S. officials developed a plan to
interrogate Daqduq for intelligence and then turn him over to the
Justice Department for trial. That plan has been scuttled, however,
by Bush’s own Republican allies in Congress. They objected to
Daqduq and other terrorist suspects being brought to the United
States for trial.
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Republicans want Daqduq and other suspected terrorists to be
prosecuted at the Guantanamo Bay military base, which the Obama
administration has tried to close. In a letter in May, Republican
members of the Senate Judiciary Committee told Attorney General
Eric Holder that they were “deeply concerned” that Daqduq might be
prosecuted in the United States.
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Lawyers who have reviewed the case concluded that while prosecuting
him at Guantanamo Bay is possible, incarcerating him there is not.
That’s because Congress authorized military action against al-Qaida
and those who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The
Supreme Court has relied on that authorization to allow the
military to hold al-Qaida suspects at Guantanamo Bay.
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Hezbollah is a Shiite group and is considered by the U.S. to be a
terrorist organization. Al-Qaida is a Sunni organization. The two
are not affiliated.
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—
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Jakes reported from Baghdad.
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