The leader of the group behind the 2007 kidnap of a British computer expert is among detainees held by the US military being transferred to Iraqi custody, a US military spokesman said yesterday.
The confirmation of Qais al-Khazaali’s handover to Iraq comes a day after the release of Peter Moore, a 36-year-old IT consultant who was held by Khazaali’s League of the Righteous for two-and-a-half years, amid speculation of a deal for Moore’s release.
Although it was not immediately clear if Khazaali was still in US custody or not, the BBC reported that he had been handed over “very recently,” citing a senior British government official.
“The United States has complied with an Iraqi government request in accordance with the US-Iraqi Security Agreement and the rule of law to transfer AAH (Asaib al-Haq) members, to include Qais al-Khazaali, from US custody to Iraqi custody pursuant to an Iraqi arrest warrant,” the US spokesman said.
“This has been occurring over a seven month period,” he said.
Asaib al-Haq is the Arabic for League of the Righteous.
Before detainees are freed by the US, Iraq evaluates whether there is any evidence that warrants a criminal prosecution before approving their release.
On Wednesday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that the US army has handed over several prisoners to the Iraqi government, while a source within the League of the Righteous said negotiations were underway to ensure that among the several hundred detainees being transferred was Khazaali.
In June, Qais al-Khazaali’s brother Laith was freed from a US prison, fueling hopes of movement on the hostages, but those were lowered when two bodies were handed over a few days later.
Similarly, around 200 members of the League of the Righteous were freed in September, the same month another body was handed over to Britain.
The League of the Righteous is made up of militants who broke away from the Mahdi Army, the former militia of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Moore, now in the care of British embassy staff in Baghdad, was “in a remarkable frame of mind” after an “unspeakable two and a half years of misery, fear and uncertainty.”
Moore was kidnapped along with his four bodyguards from the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007, by some 40 gunmen from the League of the Righteous.
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