US frees two Iraqi women in hostage controversy

BAGHDAD - Two Iraqi women detained by US forces near Baghdad and who their relatives say were being held hostage in an effort to pressure fugitive male relatives to surrender have been released, the US army said.

"We have released them into the custody of their local sheikh," a spokesman from the 3rd Infantry Division said.

The US military confirmed on Wednesday it had detained the two women, named by relatives as Salima al-Batawi, 65, and her 35-year-old daughter Aliya.

The military said they had been detained on suspicion of aiding insurgents, and added it was investigating accusations they were being held as hostages by troops searching for male relatives suspected of taking part in guerrilla attacks.

Arkan Mukhlif al-Batawi, an Iraqi from Taji just north of Baghdad, told Reuters on Tuesday the detained women were his mother and sister. He said they were arrested to try pressure him and his brothers, Muhammad and Saddam, to surrender themselves to troops who suspected them of insurgent links.

A handwritten note in Arabic left at the house where the women were detained and seen by Reuters reporters who went to the site read: "Be a man Muhammad Mukhlif and give yourself up and then we will release your sisters. Otherwise they will spend a long time in detention."

It was signed "Bandit 6", apparently US army code, possibly designating a company commander.

When Reuters called a mobile phone number left on the note, an American who said he was a soldier appeared to be aware of Batawi's accusation but declined further comment.

Neighbours interviewed around Batawi's villa in the capital's Sunni Arab suburb of Taji corroborated his account.

They said US troops accompanied by Iraqi police had arrested Batawi's mother and sister, and had told locals through an interpreter that the women would be freed once the brothers surrendered themselves.

Asked if the women were still suspected of insurgent activities, the US 3rd Infantry Division spokesman said: "It is still under investigation."

On several occasions, Iraqis have accused US troops of arresting women to pressure fugitive male relatives into giving themselves up.

Amnesty International says such arrests would be in breach of international law. The US military says it only detains those suspected of crimes or involvement in attacks.

The detention of women enrages many Iraqis who say it violates their conservative Muslim culture. Sunni clerics had demanded that the two women arrested in Taji be freed.

Batawi, who spoke to Reuters at the offices of a leading group of Sunni clerics, said he was not sure why the troops wanted to arrest him and his brothers.

He denied any wrongdoing, but said he believed US troops suspected the brothers of involvement in insurgent attacks.

- REUTERS