BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities have detained five US contractors in connection with the death of another American contractor in Baghdad, officials said yesterday, in what could be the first case of Americans facing local justice under a joint security pact that took effect this year.
The body of Jim Kitterman, who was reportedly bound, blindfolded and stabbed, was found in his car last month in the protected Green Zone where his small construction company was based.
US Embassy spokesman James Fennell confirmed that five Americans are in Iraqi custody but said no formal charges have been filed so he could not provide further details about the detention.
Embassy officials have visited the men to make sure they are being given their rights in accordance with Iraqi law, Fennell said, adding “the men appeared well.” He said FBI agents were present during a search of the men’s quarters at the request of Iraqi authorities who are handling the investigation. Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, a senior Iraqi Interior Ministry official, said the detained Americans were from the same company, but he declined to give more details because the investigation is ongoing.
Although Americans and others have been killed in rocket or mortar attacks in the Green Zone, Kitterman was believed to be the first American ever assassinated there since the protected area was established after the city fell to US forces in April 2003.
Iraq assumed control of the Green Zone on Jan. 1 under a US-Iraqi security agreement, taking primary responsibility from the Americans for searching vehicles and checking identity papers at entry checkpoints.
The Iraqis have begun removing some of the protective blast walls around the Green Zone — part of a campaign to restore a sense of normalcy as violence in the city has waned.
