Iraqi ‘deck of cards’: No. 54 has been released

The man who ranked 54th in the “deck of cards” of 55 most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein’s regime has been freed, family members and Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

Khamis Sirhan Mohammedi, the former chairman of the Baath Party in the southern city of Karbala, was released Friday and spent the next few days being feted at his home near Fallouja in Anbar province by well-wishers, including local officials, members of the Sunni Awakening movement and tribal sheiks.

He was captured in January 2004. U.S. military officials at the time described him as an “enabler for resistance attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces,” and said they had paid a bounty of $1 million to an informant following his arrest.

After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. officials produced the deck of cards, which included pictures of the suspects, to aid the search for former high-ranking Iraqi officials.

Mohammedi became only the third prisoner in the deck of cards to be released, and there was no immediate explanation as to why he had been freed. The U.S. military referred a query to the Iraqi government, which “retains legal authority on all detainees in the physical custody of United States Forces-Iraq,” a spokesman said.

Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim said Mohammedi was one of 203 detainees who had remained in U.S. custody after the transfer to the Iraqi government last month of Camp Cropper, where most high-profile detainees have been held.

Days after the transfer, it emerged that four senior members of the Al Qaeda in Iraq organization had escaped from the prison.

Ibrahim said Mohammedi was released by the U.S. military on July 30.

According to Iraqis who greeted him at his home, Mohammadi said the U.S. “played the major role” in his release, and that no charges had been filed against him in the more than six years since he was captured.

Hikmet Shallal, a senior member of Mohammedi’s tribe, said however that Mohammedi had been freed after the personal intervention of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki following an appeal by tribal leaders from Anbar province and Karbala.

Fearing for his life, Mohammedi has now left for Syria, where many former regime members have taken refuge. Among them is Izzat Douri, one of 10 people depicted on the deck of cards who were never captured. Douri is believed to be in charge of the Baathist wing of the Iraqi insurgency.

Mohammed is a staff writer. Staff writer Liz Sly contributed to this report.