U.S. Says It Has Detained 5 American Suspects in Iraq

The U.S. military in Iraq is holding five Americans who were arrested on suspicion of insurgent activity, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

None of the five has been charged or given access to lawyers. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to identify them, saying the military does not provide the names of detainees. All have dual citizenship.

One of the detainees has been identified by his family and U.S. law enforcement officials as Cyrus Kar, an Iranian American filmmaker and U.S. Navy veteran who lives in Los Angeles.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued U.S. government officials Wednesday in an effort to secure Kar’s release.

The legal maneuvering came amid continued violence in Iraq.

Kidnappers threatened to kill Egypt’s top envoy to Iraq, who was seized Saturday in Baghdad, and a double car bombing near Hillah, 60 miles south of the capital, killed at least 11 people and wounded 19. Police said the dead were mostly civilians.

The threat to kill envoy Ihab Sherif came in a statement on a website linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

On Tuesday, gunmen fired on senior diplomats from Bahrain and Pakistan in apparent kidnapping attempts.

Among the detained Americans, three are Iraqi Americans, Whitman said. The fifth is a Jordanian American, whom the Pentagon had previously acknowledged holding. He is suspected of ties to Abu Musab Zarqawi, leader of an Al Qaeda-linked militant group in Iraq.

One of the Iraqi Americans allegedly had knowledge of planning for an attack and a second may have been involved in a kidnapping, Whitman said. The third was “engaged in suspicious activity,” Whitman said, declining to be specific. They were captured, one each, in April, May and June.

Whitman said that when Kar, the Iranian American, was arrested, several dozen washing machine timers were found in the car he was in. The timers can be used as components in bombs.

Military officials said he was arrested with a cameraman and a taxi driver. The arrest occurred in mid-May.

If charges are filed, it is not clear whether U.S. courts or Iraq’s judicial system will handle the cases.

In Los Angeles, relatives said Kar, 44, was in Iraq to film scenes for a documentary.

“He just had the misfortune to get into the wrong cab,” said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU’s legal director.

“Our position is that if the government has any evidence against him, bring him home and charge in a court and then proceed accordingly,” he said.

His family said an FBI agent in Los Angeles had told them that Kar had been cleared of charges and that the timers allegedly belonged to the taxi driver.

The ACLU’s suit, filed in Washington, contends that Kar’s detention violates his constitutional rights, federal law, international law and U.S. military regulations.

Whitman said the five Americans were being held in accordance with laws governing armed conflict.