THE American military will not hand over jails or individual detainees to Iraqi authorities until they demonstrate higher standards of care, a US official said today.
The US made its case for holding on to prisoners just two weeks after the discovery of 120 abused Iraqi prisoners.
Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said detention facilities in Iraq will be transferred over time to Iraqi officials but they must f
irst show that the rights of detainees are safeguarded and that international law on the treatment of prisoners is being followed.
"A specific timeline for doing this is difficult to project at this stage with so many variables," Lt Col Johnson, a military spokesman, said.
"The Iraqis are committed to doing this right and will not rush to failure. The transition will be based on meeting standards, not on a timeline."
Prisons have been one of the sore points between the Shia Muslim majority and Sunni Arabs, who saw their power evaporate with Saddam Hussein's overthrow. US officials are pushing to heal the rift as a way to weaken support for the Sunni-led insurgency.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said earlier this month that at least 120 abused prisoners had been found inside two jails controlled by the Shia-run Iraqi interior ministry.
Sunni Arabs have long complained about abuse and torture by interior ministry security forces.
Guerrillas opened fire on a checkpoint north of Baghdad today, killing five Iraqi policemen and wounding three others. Six guerrillas were killed when police officers returned fire in the early-morning attack in Buhriz, about 37 miles from Baghdad, police said.
Violence in Iraq has surged in the past few days after a lull in attacks earlier this month during parliamentary elections, partly due to an informal truce by some Sunni Arab insurgent groups and strict security measures at the time.
The full article contains 334 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
