Conflicting reports over Iraq release
Iraqi PM, U.S officials dispute top Iraqi official's claim
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Conflicting accounts about the possible release of Iraqi detainees -- among them the woman known as "Dr. Germ" -- were issued by the U.S. and Iraqi governments Wednesday.
Iraq's interim national security adviser, Kasim Daoud, told reporters that three detainees -- including Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha al-Azawi and her husband, the country's former oil minister -- would be released soon because no charges were being brought against them.
Daoud denied their release was linked to the demand by the Unification and Jihad group to release Iraqi women being held prisoner.
The group, led by Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claims it has killed two American hostages and says it will kill a British civil engineer it holds unless the demand is met.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists in any way," Daoud said. "Negotiating with terrorists is giving them the green light to go ahead in their terrorist actions."
British hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared in a video Wednesday and tearfully pleaded for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to help spare his life, saying, "Please, please help me." (Full story)
Taha's husband, Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi, was No. 33 on the U.S. Central Command's list of the 55-most wanted Iraqis and was the eight of diamonds in the playing card pack handed out to U.S. military personnel.
Daoud said the third detainee slated for release is Hikmat al-Azawi, a former deputy prime minister. He was No. 28 on the U.S. Central Command list and the six of spades in the playing card deck.
Daoud's statement about the detainees was contradicted by Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly session.
Allawi told The Associated Press that he has the final say on the release of detainees and he had not made a decision.
Allawi also stressed that his government will not negotiate with terrorists on the release of detainees.
In Baghdad, U.S. Embassy spokesman Alberto Fernandez said two female "high value detainees" -- one of whom is Taha -- are under the legal and physical custody of U.S. troops and their release is not imminent.
Taha, who once headed Iraq's bacterial-biological program under dictator Saddam Hussein, was taken into coalition custody in May 2003. A British-educated Iraqi, she was nicknamed "Dr. Germ" by some U.S. officials.
Iraqi officials had previously described Taha as a "retired housewife." She was not on the U.S. list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis. But she was No. 197 on a broader list.
The second female detainee in U.S. custody is Dr. Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a former senior Baath party official who Pentagon sources called "Mrs. Anthrax."
U.S. intelligence officials said Ammash played a key role in rebuilding Iraq's surreptitious biological weapons program in the mid-1990s -- a claim she denied. Officially, she oversaw Iraq's youth activities and the trade bureau.
Ammash, No. 53 of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, negotiated her surrender and was taken into custody in May 2003 in Baghdad.
U.S. officials said no women are being held at prisons in Iraq. One official said 45 women were once held in Abu Ghraib prison but all have been released. The U.S. military said Taha and Ammash are detained elsewhere. (Full story)
Decision-making issue
Earlier, a spokesman for the deputy commander for detainee operations in Iraq said Taha's status was still under review.
"Any decision would need to be a joint decision between the multinational forces and the Iraqi government," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson.
Daoud said the multinational forces have no say in the release of the detainees.
A U.S. military official in Baghdad said, however, that the ultimate decision rests with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
A U.S. defense official in Washington and the U.S. military official in Baghdad said Taha's case was being reviewed before the three Westerners were taken hostage last week.
The U.S. military official in Baghdad said a review of 14 of the 85 "high value detainees" held by the United States began in July and those 14 were determined not to be a security threat after extensive interrogations.
One of those cases was that of Taha, the official said.
After the determination by U.S. officials, the cases were passed on to the Iraqi government for review and approval last week, the official said.
After approval from the Iraqi government, the 14 cases were due to go back for further U.S. review up the chain of command, ending with Rumsfeld, the official said.
The timing of the case going to the Iraqi government and the kidnappings of the three Westerners was "totally coincidental," the official said.
Saddam is not considered a "high value detainee" but is considered a "high value criminal" because the Iraqi judicial system has lodged charges against him, the U.S. official said.
Saddam and 11 other "high value criminals" are in Iraqi custody and the United States has no legal authority over them, the official said.
CNN's Mike Mount in Baghdad and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
