US: no handover of detainees to Iraqis

The US military will continue to keep detainees and prisoners in custody instead of handing them over to Iraqi custody, following the revelation of abuses in secret Iraqi facilities last month. Even after Abu Ghraib and the deaths of detainees at Bagram, the US has decided that it is better than the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

The New York Times reports that General Gardner, who took over control of forces in Iraq on November 30, will require sites under the control of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to be inspected before the US begins handing over detainees. (Ironically, the US will not allow unhampered access for the Red Cross to inspect American facilities in Iraq.)

According to the US military's own accounting, the US prisons in Iraq are at 120% of capacity. Abu Ghraib is 40% over capacity. The prison population has almost doubled in the past year.

On a similar and strange note, following the release of formerly "high-value" detainees such as the infamous Ms. Anthrax (Huda Ammash) by the US, the Iraqi government complains that it would like to re-arrest them.