Committee to receive detainees from U.S. forces

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A committee comprising representatives of the Iraqi Interior Ministry will be assigned to receive detainees from the U.S. forces, an official spokesperson for the Supreme Judicial Council said on Sunday. “The committee, headed by the Ministry of Interior with members from the National Security Department, intelligence, the anti-terrorism department, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Judicial Council; will begin to receive the files of detainees from the U.S. side by early February,” Judge Abdelsattar al-Birqirdar told IraqiNews.com news agency. The handover will take place in accordance with the troop withdrawal agreement signed with the U.S. administration. According to figures released by Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, there is an estimated 23,000 detainees, including 240 Arab nationals, in U.S.-run jails. SS (P) 1