Official: No UK or U.S. prisoners in Iraq
 |
U.S. soldiers patrol the Abu Ghraib prison.
Story Tools
|
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Coalition officials said Wednesday there are no Americans or British nationals in U.S. custody in Iraq, despite a U.S. general's comment to the contrary.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski said she believes six prisoners picked up during the Iraq war had, at one point, claimed to be Americans and two others said they were British nationals, but their status changed in the past 30 to 40 days.
During a news briefing at the Abu Ghraib jail Tuesday, Karpinski referred to the eight prisoners in U.S. custody at the facility, located west of Baghdad. She clarified her statement Wednesday.
She did not say why they were no longer claiming to be Americans or Britons, but insisted they had not been transferred from the prison.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld noted that the prisoners may have misled the U.S. military about their identities.
"They're quite skilled at confusing people as to what their real nationality is or where they came from or what they're doing, and it takes a little time to sort these things out," he said during a news conference Tuesday in Washington.
She said among the 10,000 prisoners at the jail, there are about 300 foreign nationals from 20 different countries, but none of them have been identified as U.S. or British nationals.
Most of the prisoners were picked up during the Iraq war.
