U.S. holding 5 Americans for Iraq activity

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

They were captured separately and don't appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees.

Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases.

One of the Iraqi-Americans allegedly had knowledge of planning for an attack, and another was possibly involved in a kidnapping, Whitman said. The third was "engaged in suspicious activity," he said, declining to be more specific.

Whitman said the Iranian-American was captured with several dozen washing machine timers in his car - items that can be used as components in bombs.

In Los Angeles, relatives identified him as Cyrus Kar, 44, a U.S. Navy veteran who lives in that city. He was in Iraq to film scenes for a documentary on King Cyrus the Great, founder of Persia, when he was arrested at a checkpoint in Baghdad in mid-May, his family said. They also said he has been cleared of wrongdoing and there is no legal authority for his detention.

They said he called them on May 24 and said he had been detained because of a misunderstanding involving a taxi driver who had been driving Kar and his cameraman around Baghdad. Kar was born in Iran but came to the United States when he was a child, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

The Jordanian-American was captured in a raid late last year and is suspected of high-level ties to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist and leading al-Qaida ally in Iraq. Officials announced his capture in March.

All five are in custody at one of the three U.S.-run prisons in Iraq - Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca or Camp Cropper, Whitman said, declining to provide their precise location. The International Committee of the Red Cross has had access to all five prisoners, Whitman said.

A panel of three U.S. officers rules on whether each prisoner is properly held; that has already taken place for the Jordanian-American. Whitman did not say whether the three Iraqi-Americans or the Iranian-American have been through this process.

Beyond that, their capture presents a complex legal issue for the U.S. government. Whitman said it is not certain whether they will be turned over to the Justice Department for investigation or to the new Iraqi legal system, which has handled the prosecution of other foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight the U.S.-led occupation and new Iraqi government.

The closest parallel to their situation may be the two American citizens were captured opposing U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Two Taliban foot soldiers, John Walker Lindh and Yaser Esam Hamdi, held U.S. citizenship when they were captured in late 2001.

Lindh, a California native now in his early 20s, pleaded guilty in civilian court to supplying services to the Taliban government and carrying explosives for them. He received a 20-year prison sentence in 2002 and has since sought to have it reduced.

Hamdi was born in Louisiana and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He was held by the U.S. government for three years before being released to his family in Saudi Arabia in October 2004. He gave up his American citizenship as a condition of his release.

Whitman, however, said their cases do not necessarily set a precedent for the handling of the five Americans captured in Iraq because Afghanistan had no functioning government at the time of Lindh's and Hamdi's capture.

The military is holding about 420 non-Iraqis in Iraq, out of more than 10,000 in custody, officials said. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government has held more than 70,000 people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Reporters Without Borders queries fate of three journalists in Iraq
FRANCE-PRESS-IRAQ

PARIS, June 29 (KUNA) -- The French-based press freedom organization, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), on Wednesday called on Iraq and the United States to provide information about the disappearance of two TV journalists early last month and for an explanation on the murder of a local TV producer on Tuesday.

Cyrus Kar, a US national of Iranian origin and his Iranian cameraman Farshid Faraji, were both arrested in Iraq on May 2, 2005, while making a documentary called, "In search of Darius the Great." And only yesterday, Ahmed Wael Al Bacri, a producer on local Al-Sharkiya television, died at the wheel of his car while he was shot upon returning to his home in Baghdad.

"We ask for light to be shed on the circumstances of the arrest of documentary-maker Cyrus Kar and his cameraman Farshid Faraji" the Reporters' body said in a statement.

"The US and Iraqi authorities should quickly investigate to find out the reasons for their detention," the organisation said, adding, "We are particularly worried for Faraji about whom we have had no news since his arrest on 2 May." The US national, Kar, was apparently spotted in a US army transport since his arrest.

"We have found out that Kar was seen in a US Army vehicle. It is not the first time that US forces have arbitrarily detained journalists in Iraq. The extremely sensitive context in the country does not justify this detention and it is important the US forces continue to respect the work of journalists, the RWB statement said.

"We demand the full truth about this case and the murder of Ahmed Wael Al Bacri. We ask the competent authorities to take all necessary steps to investigate the circumstances of his death. Iraqi journalists are frequently the target of attacks and pay a high price for reporting the news," the organisation added.

The documentary crew arrested in May had already been working in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkey and had been given permission to work and film in Iraq, an authorization granted both by Iraqi and US authorities but they were nonetheless arrested shortly after arriving in Baghdad.

Kar was handed over to US custody and has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and has undergone questioning. But no information on charges against him has been made public.

Faraji appears in a more precarious position and there is no news of him since his arrest. His name does not figure on the list of prisoners submitted to competent charities that work on these issues, like the Red Cross or Red Crescent, according to Reporters Without Borders. More than 60 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the US intervention in March 2003, the bulk of them Iraqi pressmen and women. (end) jk.

ALERT - IRAQ

30 June 2005

RSF calls for investigation into deaths of television producer and
journalist; filmmaker and cameramen arrested

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed outrage over the 28 June 2005 murder of Iraqi
television producer Ahmed Wael Al Bakri.

Al Bakri, 30, a producer with the privately-owned television station
al-Sharqiya, was killed at the wheel of his car when he drove too close to a
United States (US) military convoy. He produced a variety programme and
another dealing with life's everyday problems. His death brings to 60 the
number of journalists and other media workers killed in Iraq since the start
of the conflict in March 2003.

"It is not the first time that US soldiers have targeted a journalist after
wrongly concluding that his vehicle could be booby-trapped," said RSF. "We
urge the US Army to show greater judgement and vigilance, to avoid such
unacceptable shooting blunders. An investigation should be opened urgently,
not with the aim of whitewashing the army, but with the aim of shedding
light on this death."

On 29 June, a spokesman for the Baghdad-based 3rd Infantry Division told
Agence France-Presse (AFP) that a US unit was implicated in Al Bakri's death
and an investigation had been launched.

In another unrelated incident, RSF has called for information about the
arrest of a documentary filmmaker and his cameraman.

Cyrus Kar, a US national of Iranian origin, and his Iranian cameraman,
Farshid Faraji, were both arrested in Iraq on 2 May while making a
documentary entitled, "In Search of Darius the Great".

After filming the first part of their documentary in Iran, Afghanistan,
Tajikistan and Turkey, Kar and Faraji went to Iraq. They had received
permission to film in the country from both the American and Iraqi
governments.

Iraqi police arrested them shortly after they arrived in Baghdad. After
finding that Kar was a US national, they handed him over to the US Army. He
has since been held at Camp Cropper, a detention centre located close to
Baghdad airport. The FBI searched his home and made him take a lie-detector
test. He is still being held by the US Army, who have released no
information about him.

Nothing has been heard of Faraji since his arrest. His name does not appear
on the list of prisoners drawn up by the Red Cross in Iraq.

Finally, RSF expressed revulsion at the murder of journalist Jassim Al Qais,
of the daily "Al Siyada", who was shot dead on 22 June, along with his son,
as they travelled on a road 10 kilometres north of Baghdad.

"This vile act reminds us that Iraq is the world's most dangerous country
for journalists," the organisation said. "The state of security in the
country is so appalling that armed men can murder a journalist in broad
daylight. In this way, the killers gradually stifle news and information in
the country. We point out yet again that journalists are neutral observers
whose work should be protected irrespective of their nationality or the
media they work for."

RSF's correspondent in Baghdad said the journalist was at the wheel of his
Kia vehicle when armed men opened fire, killing him and his son instantly.
The motive for the murder is not yet known.

For further information contact Lynn Tehini, RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie,
Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail:
moyen-orient@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
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