Iraqis Held in U.S. May Be Freed
By Jeff Wong
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, June 12, 1999; 6:07 a.m. EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Five former Iraqi military officers who claimed they fought Saddam Hussein and then spent 2 1/2 years in custody fighting deportation from the United States are happy to finally be getting out of jail.
``The system here is good, but the people who represent (the government) have brought shame to this country,'' said Mohammed Jwer Abboud Al-Ammary, a former military cargo plane pilot.
The Iraqis may stay in Nebraska until a friendly country agrees to accept them, a judge ruled Friday. A sixth Iraqi refused the agreement, the end to a saga that began in 1996 when the U.S. airlifted 6,500 Iraqis from Turkey following a failed coup in Iraq.
The men's families were granted asylum, but immigration authorities sought deportation and claimed they were spies for Hussein.
The men said they were grateful for the efforts to free them, especially those of former CIA Director James Woolsey, now a private lawyer. But they also feel betrayed by the U.S. government, which they say promised asylum.
Immigration Judge D.D. Sitgraves denied the men asylum in March 1998 and ordered them deported, saying they could be double agents. The men claimed they would be executed if sent home.
U.S. authorities justified their imprisonment largely on secret evidence, a practice in immigration cases that has come under fire from federal lawmakers and activists.
Last year, the INS unsealed some of the evidence -- testimony about the six Iraqis from FBI agents who discussed hunches, distaste for the detainees and their feelings about Arab culture. Woolsey called the detention ``a stain on the honor of the United States.''
The sixth Iraqi, Ali Yasim Mohammed Karim, said he will never sign the freedom deal. Authorities have given him until July 9 to change his mind. He could eventually be deported to Iraq.
The remaining five will be released within two weeks to Lincoln, Neb., where their families were resettled.
Under the deal, the men must abandon any claims for asylum here but may remain in Nebraska until they are deported to a friendly country. They must report to the INS daily, stay at home at night, accept wire taps on their telephones and stay in the country.
In August, Iraqi military forces rolled into northern Iraq and crushed the resistance effort. U.S. forces evacuated more than 6,000 Iraqis and Kurds to a NATO air base in Turkey before flying them to Guam. During their five-month stay in Guam, the refugees were taught American civics--including, Frenzen notes with irony, the right to face one's accuser in court. They also submitted to FBI interviews.
Frenzen contends that disgruntled resistance workers, motivated in some cases by petty personal disputes with his clients, intentionally misled the FBI about their backgrounds. But because the FBI's reports of those interviews are classified, federal authorities will not disclose why the refugees are considered potential threats to national security. The INS has granted asylum to their wives and children.