.Ex-Iraq electricity minister speaks after escape
December 19, 2006, 5:51 PM CST
BAGHDAD -- Speaking from a location he would not identify, a Chicago-area engineer facing corruption charges in Iraq said Tuesday he escaped custody with the help of a "multi-national" group and vowed to return to his home in the western suburb of Oak Brook after the New Year.
Aiham Alsammarae, Iraq's former electricity minister, said in a telephone interview that he decided to flee Sunday from a police station in central Baghdad because he was certain that Iraqi authorities would kill him if he remained in their custody.
"I am now in a very safe place," said Alsammarae, who is a partner in the KCI Engineering firm in the western suburb of Downers Grove. "They cannot touch me any more."
Alsammarae, who contacted the Tribune Tuesday afternoon, said that the "multi-national" group that helped him escape included Iraqis and men of other nationalities.
He said the escape plan was hatched over a period of time, and that the men that freed him had done reconnaissance of the area around the police station and the route out of Baghdad. He said that multiple cars were used to spirit him out of the area, and he switched cars during his escape.
He would give no further details about the escape or his relationship with the men who freed him.
Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, head of Iraq's Commission of Public Integrity, an anti-corruption panel, said Tuesday that court officials had issued a warrant for Alsammarae's arrest, which had been distributed at all the ports, borders and airports.
U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said U.S. officials were still investigating.
"We are continuing to cooperate with the Iraqi government which is conducting an investigation into this matter," Fintor said.
Iraqi officials said Monday that Alsammarae broke out of the station where he was being held with the help of a group of private security experts. According to al-Radhi, the security agents were "foreigners" wearing what looked like American military uniforms.
Alsammarae said on Tuesday that he began considering an escape 15 days after he was detained in August. He was held at an Iraqi police station inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government also are located, and his cell was a converted office where he had access to a mobile phone and the Internet.
Alsammarae, a secular Sunni who ran the electricity ministry in the first post-invasion Iraqi government, said throughout his detention that he was vulnerable to kidnapping at the police station and that he would be killed if the Iraqi authorities decided to move him to a jail run by the Shiite-dominated security forces.
"After 15 days, I knew they had nothing [to prosecute the case] and they planned to delay and delay until they could take revenge on me," he said.
Since his flight on Sunday, Alsammarae said that he's received several congratulatory telephone calls from Iraqi dignitaries, including former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He added that he has enjoyed his freedom and sleeping in a comfortable bed.
"The first thing I ate was a pizza with ground beef, onions, double cheese and a cold beer," he said. "It is good to be free."
Al-Radhi, the head of the integrity commission, said Tuesday the Iraqi authorities are still investigating the circumstances of Alsammarae's escape. The three police officers present at the police station at the time he fled are under arrest.
"They said foreigners came and took Aiham Alsammarae and they think those foreigners were Americans but we don't know who they are or who they work for." al-Radhi said.
Alsammarae, who is a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen, said that Iraqi authorities took away his U.S. passport soon after he was detained, but he held onto his Iraqi passport. He expressed confidence he would quickly be able to get a new U.S. passport and return home.
In August, Alsammarae was in Jordan when he learned through an Arab satellite news broadcast that the commission was filing corruption charges against him. He returned to Iraq to try to beat the charges but was immediately taken into Iraqi custody.
In October, he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison on a corruption-related charge that centered on accusations that he improperly spent $200,000 of Iraqi government money in the southern Maysan province.
But last week, a 23-person appellate panel overturned the conviction against him. He and his family held out hope that he would be released, but integrity commission officials said that they still had five other corruption-related cases against him and would not release him until they were investigated and resolved.
According to a copy of the court ruling that overturned Alsammarae's conviction, obtained Tuesday by the Tribune, the appellate judges found that it was coalition forces who had originally ordered the generator and that Alsamarrae, as minister, had formed a committee to determine what price the state would pay for it.
The committee found that Alsammarae had committed no wrongdoing in this case, according to the document.
"Because what the defendant had done cannot be considered a mistake, and because criminal intent was not present...the court has decided to reject the case and all decisions in this case against the defendant Aiham Jassem Mohammed, and cancel all the charges against him and to release him if there is no obstacle or any other reason," the court ruled on December 11.
Chicago Tribbune
BAGHDAD -- Speaking from a location he would not identify, a Chicago-area engineer facing corruption charges in Iraq said Tuesday he escaped custody with the help of a "multi-national" group and vowed to return to his home in the western suburb of Oak Brook after the New Year.
Aiham Alsammarae, Iraq's former electricity minister, said in a telephone interview that he decided to flee Sunday from a police station in central Baghdad because he was certain that Iraqi authorities would kill him if he remained in their custody.
"I am now in a very safe place," said Alsammarae, who is a partner in the KCI Engineering firm in the western suburb of Downers Grove. "They cannot touch me any more."
Alsammarae, who contacted the Tribune Tuesday afternoon, said that the "multi-national" group that helped him escape included Iraqis and men of other nationalities.
He said the escape plan was hatched over a period of time, and that the men that freed him had done reconnaissance of the area around the police station and the route out of Baghdad. He said that multiple cars were used to spirit him out of the area, and he switched cars during his escape.
He would give no further details about the escape or his relationship with the men who freed him.
Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, head of Iraq's Commission of Public Integrity, an anti-corruption panel, said Tuesday that court officials had issued a warrant for Alsammarae's arrest, which had been distributed at all the ports, borders and airports.
U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said U.S. officials were still investigating.
"We are continuing to cooperate with the Iraqi government which is conducting an investigation into this matter," Fintor said.
Iraqi officials said Monday that Alsammarae broke out of the station where he was being held with the help of a group of private security experts. According to al-Radhi, the security agents were "foreigners" wearing what looked like American military uniforms.
Alsammarae said on Tuesday that he began considering an escape 15 days after he was detained in August. He was held at an Iraqi police station inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government also are located, and his cell was a converted office where he had access to a mobile phone and the Internet.
Alsammarae, a secular Sunni who ran the electricity ministry in the first post-invasion Iraqi government, said throughout his detention that he was vulnerable to kidnapping at the police station and that he would be killed if the Iraqi authorities decided to move him to a jail run by the Shiite-dominated security forces.
"After 15 days, I knew they had nothing [to prosecute the case] and they planned to delay and delay until they could take revenge on me," he said.
Since his flight on Sunday, Alsammarae said that he's received several congratulatory telephone calls from Iraqi dignitaries, including former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. He added that he has enjoyed his freedom and sleeping in a comfortable bed.
"The first thing I ate was a pizza with ground beef, onions, double cheese and a cold beer," he said. "It is good to be free."
Al-Radhi, the head of the integrity commission, said Tuesday the Iraqi authorities are still investigating the circumstances of Alsammarae's escape. The three police officers present at the police station at the time he fled are under arrest.
"They said foreigners came and took Aiham Alsammarae and they think those foreigners were Americans but we don't know who they are or who they work for." al-Radhi said.
Alsammarae, who is a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen, said that Iraqi authorities took away his U.S. passport soon after he was detained, but he held onto his Iraqi passport. He expressed confidence he would quickly be able to get a new U.S. passport and return home.
In August, Alsammarae was in Jordan when he learned through an Arab satellite news broadcast that the commission was filing corruption charges against him. He returned to Iraq to try to beat the charges but was immediately taken into Iraqi custody.
In October, he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison on a corruption-related charge that centered on accusations that he improperly spent $200,000 of Iraqi government money in the southern Maysan province.
But last week, a 23-person appellate panel overturned the conviction against him. He and his family held out hope that he would be released, but integrity commission officials said that they still had five other corruption-related cases against him and would not release him until they were investigated and resolved.
According to a copy of the court ruling that overturned Alsammarae's conviction, obtained Tuesday by the Tribune, the appellate judges found that it was coalition forces who had originally ordered the generator and that Alsamarrae, as minister, had formed a committee to determine what price the state would pay for it.
The committee found that Alsammarae had committed no wrongdoing in this case, according to the document.
"Because what the defendant had done cannot be considered a mistake, and because criminal intent was not present...the court has decided to reject the case and all decisions in this case against the defendant Aiham Jassem Mohammed, and cancel all the charges against him and to release him if there is no obstacle or any other reason," the court ruled on December 11.
Chicago Tribbune
posted by madtom at 8:29 PM
2 Comments:
Yo!
Don 't center your text! It's fucking impossible to read!
Get back to me when you've learned how to construct your blog properly.
Regards,
Charlie
Hi Charlie, thanks for visiting.
I have no idea what you talking about, I have not centered any text, but thanks anyhow
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