Six people claiming to be Americans and two who say they are British are in US custody on suspicion of involvement in attacks on coalition forces, an American general said. They would be the first Westerners reported held in the insurrection against the US-led occupation.
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who is in charge of coalition detention centers in Iraq, said they were considered security detainees, meaning they were suspected of involvement in guerrilla attacks. She did not identify them but said they were being interrogated by military intelligence in Baghdad, where they were being held.
"We actually do have six who are claiming to be Americans, two who are claiming to be from the UK. We're continuing the interviewing process. The details become sketchy and their story changes," Karpinski said Tuesday.
She said there were "several ... hundred third-country nationals in custody."
When pressed for details about those being held, she declined to give any other information.
"We're not trying to withhold information from you. Some information remains classified for security reasons," Karpinski said during a tour of Abu Ghraib prison, where Saddam Hussein once locked up his political opponents.
Asked about the detainees at a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said: "The truth is that the folks that we've scooped up have, on a number of occasions, multiple identifications from different countries. They're quite skilled at confusing people as to what their real nationality is or where they came from or what they're doing."
Rumsfeld said he had no additional information on the detainees in Iraq.
The British government said it was investigating the claims.
"We are urgently following up the reports," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity. She would not confirm whether the US had informed British officials of the arrests.
If Westerners are actively involved in the resistance, it would deepen confusion about what groups are involved. Initially, the guerrilla fighters were thought to be Saddam loyalists, but in recent weeks US officials have said they are being joined by foreign fighters, possibly members of the al-Qaeda terror network.
The revelation recalls the capture of John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan, where the American fought alongside Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
In December 2001, British citizen Richard Reid, a member of al-Qaeda, was arrested after trying to light explosives hidden in his shoes on a Paris-to-Miami flight. Reid pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
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