This is the latest, and I hope it turns out to be true. You never know over there and I will be happy when I see the report where these guys are actually free and telling their side of the story. –Matt
Edit: The Iraqi police Wednesday released three of the five U.S. contractors who were detained last week in connection with the slaying last month of an American in Baghdad’s Green Zone enclave, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.
The men were freed on bail, but were forbidden to leave Iraq during the investigation of the death of Jim Kitterman, a 60-year-old construction contractor from Texas, said Rafae Munahe, a senior advisor to Interior Minister Jawad Bolani.
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Sources: U.S. contractors will not face Iraq charges
June 10, 2009
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A judge in Iraq has decided that charges against five U.S. contractors are not warranted and they will soon be released from custody, according to an Iraqi security source and a source close to the five.
The reason for the contractors’ detention had been unclear.
The five were initially told they were being held in connection with the death last month of another contractor, James Kitterman, said the source close to the five.
But on Monday the men were told they were being held on suspicion of having unregistered weapons, although they were asked about their activities around the time Kitterman was killed.
However, Iraqi government officials told CNN Monday the five were detained as suspects in connection with Kitterman’s slaying.
The Iraqi security source said the five will either be released Wednesday or Thursday. They are waiting to finish the logistical procedures at the police station where they had been held.
None of the five has been charged with a crime.
Kitterman was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car in Baghdad’s Green Zone on May 22. The 60-year-old from Houston, Texas, owned a construction company that operated in Iraq.
The Green Zone, where Kitterman’s body was discovered, is the high-security area in central Baghdad that contains the U.S. Embassy and key Iraqi government buildings.
Access to the area, formally known as the International Zone, is tightly controlled.
Story here.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi judge releasing U.S. contractors
Joseph Weber (Contact)
EXCLUSIVE:
Three Americans arrested in connection with the killing of a contractor in Baghdad’s Green Zone are being released Wednesday, said their attorney Timothy M. Haake.
The men are Donald Feeney Jr., 55; son Donald “Buddy” Feeney III, 31; and Mark Bridges, an employee of the Feeneys’ Corporate Training Unlimited security firm.
The case is the first under a 2008 agreement in which U.S. contractors are subject to criminal law in Iraq.
Two other men are being held but also are expected to be released. They have been identified as Micah Milligan, a Corporate Training Unlimited employee, and Jason Jones, employed by another security firm working in Baghdad.
Mr. Haake said no charges have been or were filed against any of the five.