Iraq, U.S. Differ on Prisoner Release

In a sign of confusion over who runs post-Hussein Iraq, the United States on Wednesday contradicted an announcement by an Iraqi government ministry that a female Iraqi scientist in U.S. custody would soon be released.

The Iraqi announcement Wednesday morning came in the midst of a crisis involving a British hostage and seemed to address kidnappers’ demands that Iraqi female prisoners be released. Within hours, U.S. Embassy officials were denying that any release was imminent. Senior Iraqi officials later backtracked, declaring that Rihab Taha, nicknamed “Dr. Germ” for her alleged biological-weapons research, would no longer be freed on bail.

The confusion over Taha’s release came during a week in which two hostages -- Michigan native Eugene “Jack” Armstrong and Jack Hensley of Marietta, Ga. -- were beheaded by a group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab Zarqawi. The two Americans and British civil engineer Kenneth Bigley, who all worked for Gulf Services Co., were dragged by kidnappers from their Baghdad home last week.

On Wednesday night, another militant group claimed to have killed two Italian women who were kidnapped from their aid agency office in Baghdad this month. Italian authorities said they could not confirm that the two women had been killed. In a statement released today, the Italians urged “maximum caution,” citing the vague nature of the militants’ claim.

Early Wednesday, hopes for Bigley’s freedom improved when the Iraqi Justice Ministry announced that Taha would be granted bail, perhaps later in the day. The ministry also said it was considering releasing the second female scientist, Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, dubbed “Dr. Anthrax.”

Ministry spokesman Noori Abdul Raheem insisted that the decision had nothing to do with the kidnappers’ demands.

Bigley’s fate remained unknown early today. He had appeared Wednesday in a video posted on an Islamist website, pleading for British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s help.

“I don’t want to die,” Bigley said, sobbing. “Please free female prisoners held in Iraqi prisons.”

In making their demands, the kidnappers did not mention Taha or Ammash but called for the release of all Iraqi women held in U.S.-run military prisons.

The confusion over Taha’s release raised the question about how much control the interim Iraqi government exerts over prisoners, security and other matters. It claims custody over all Iraqi prisoners, though the U.S. apparently disagrees.

A U.S. government source, who requested anonymity, said the Justice Ministry had prematurely announced Taha’s release -- without thought to how it would be perceived in light of the kidnappers’ demands, and without consulting U.S. or British officials. The U.S., Britain and the Iraqi government have repeatedly said they would not negotiate with hostage-takers.

The U.S. Embassy released a statement -- after the Justice Ministry announcement -- that Taha and Ammash remained in “legal and physical custody” of U.S. forces and would not be released “imminently.”

Embassy spokesman Robert J. Callahan said the United States had relinquished legal custody only over deposed President Saddam Hussein and 11 other prisoners, who had been described as “high value” former Iraqi officials.

After the embassy announcement, Iraq’s newly appointed national security director, Kasim Daoud, held a news conference to announce that a panel of judges had been reviewing the cases of 20 prisoners, including Taha and Ammash, before Bigley and his colleagues were kidnapped.

The panel approved the release of Taha and two male prisoners, citing insufficient evidence, Daoud said, but their cases were to be sent to Iraqi security officials for further review.

“We still have not finished the security measures,” Daoud said. “They will not be released today or tomorrow or after tomorrow.”

As the confusion grew Wednesday, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told Associated Press by telephone from New York that no release of hostages was imminent.

“We have not been negotiating and we will not negotiate with terrorists on the release of hostages,” Allawi said.

In Washington, a U.S. defense official said, “We have no plans to release” Taha.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in a news conference at the United Nations, said that although he sympathized with the hostages’ families, the U.S. had not changed its policy.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned over time [it’s] that you can’t negotiate with these kinds of terrorists,” Powell said. “You can’t give in to them, because all it does is incentivize them to do it again.”

But across the Atlantic, pressure increased on Blair to help free the 62-year-old Bigley.

The anguish of the Bigley family has dominated newspaper headlines and television reports in Britain.

During the last week, Bigley’s brothers, Paul and Philip, have repeatedly pleaded for mercy and begged Blair to intervene.

Paul Bigley told GMTV in London on Wednesday that the report that one woman prisoner would be released was “a glimmer of hope.”

In New York, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC that the government was continuing to do “everything we can ... but it would be idle to pretend that there’s a great deal of hope.” He said Bigley’s family was “preparing themselves for the worst.”

In Italy, people waited for confirmation of the militants’ claim that they had killed the two Italian aid workers.

“I hope it is not true. It can’t be true. This news has killed us,” said Ana Maria Torretta, the mother of one of the abducted women. “They [government officials] told us they are verifying the veracity of the announcement. We are waiting.”

The Sept. 7 abduction of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, Italian aid volunteers who worked with Iraqi children, had been steeped in mystery from the start. They were the first Western women known to have been taken hostage. Unlike other kidnapping victims, no videotape of the abducted women has surfaced on the Internet.

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Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Tyler Marshall and Mark Mazzetti in Washington; John Daniszewski in London; Tracy Wilkinson and Maria De Cristofaro of The Times’ Rome Bureau; Ashraf Khalil, Salar Jaff and Mohammed Arrawi of the Baghdad Bureau and Maggie Farley at the United Nations.