5 of 6 Iraqis Held 2 Years Agree to Be Deported

After more than two years in custody, five Iraqi men suspected by U.S. authorities of working as double agents for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will be freed after agreeing to be deported to a third country, leaving the allegations unresolved.

The five men--whose plight drew national attention--will leave as part of an agreement to be filed today with U.S. Immigration Judge D.D. Sitgraves in Los Angeles, said their attorney, Niels Frenzen.

The five men, all former Iraqi military officials in their 30s, say that they risked their lives to fight Hussein. All claim membership in CIA-backed groups opposed to Hussein. All deny being double agents and say they face certain execution if returned to Iraq.

The men have accepted the deal to be reunited with their wives and children, the lawyer said.

“This is the end of a horrific nightmare for the five men who decided to accept the settlement,” said Frenzen, of Public Counsel, a nonprofit legal service agency in Los Angeles.

Russell Bergeron, spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, confirmed the deal.

A sixth Iraqi, Kurdish physician Ali Yasim Mohammed Karim, has thus far declined the government’s offer. Two other Iraqi detainees with separate but related cases are still considering the proposal.

After the agreement is approved by the immigration judge, the five will be transported from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Mira Loma detention facility to Lincoln, Neb., where they will be reunited with their families.

Their family members have been granted political asylum and are living in the United States.

The five are to remain in Nebraska in a state of virtual house arrest until arrangements are made for their deportation. Their destination will be selected from a list of 74 countries presented to the court. Absent from the list are Iraq and several neighboring countries.

Under terms of the agreement, the country that accepts the five men must agree not to detain them or expel them. The countries also must allow them to work, attend school and practice their religion.

“The INS will work with the State Department to negotiate prompt removal from the United States to one of these more than 70 countries,” said Bergeron.

Under the deal, the five relinquish their claims for political asylum in the United States.

After they are freed, the agreement mandates that the five not leave Lancaster County, Neb., until they are deported. They must report daily by telephone to the INS and remain in their homes between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. All have consented to having their telephone calls and mail monitored by federal officials, and their homes periodically searched. They can work, but the INS must approve their jobs.

The five are among more than 6,000 Iraqis who escaped to neighboring Turkey and were airlifted by the United States to Guam in 1996 after a failed coup attempt.

U.S. authorities, relying on secret evidence, later concluded the five were potential double agents for Hussein and ordered them held.

Judge Sitgraves ruled last year that they should be deported as security risks, relying largely on classified evidence. The growing use of such secret evidence in immigration cases has prompted criticism among civil libertarians and has spurred proposals on Capitol Hill to curb the practice.

The secret evidence against the Iraqis was later released, when the Justice Department admitted the material had been classified by mistake. The double agent allegations were largely based on uncorroborated reports culled by FBI agents from interviews with the fractious Iraqi opposition. Defense lawyers said the evidence was little more than rumor.

Among those supporting the Iraqis has been former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, now a Washington lawyer and a member of their defense team. Woolsey has criticized authorities for detaining the men after they helped the United States try to oust Hussein.

U.S. officials have insisted that the evidence was sufficient to regard the Iraqis as security risks.

The five who have accepted the deal are: Mohammed Jwer Al-Ammary, Ali Jahjoh Saleh, Adil Hadi Awadh, Mohammed Jassin Tuma, and Safadim Hassan Al-Batat.