Baghdad, September 17: The US army plans to close Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq after transferring its last 180 detainees to other US-run jails in and near the capital Baghdad.
“Since January 1 we have released 5,600 detainees and transferred 1,400 that have arrest warrants or detention orders,” said prisons chief Brigadier General David Quantock on Wednesday night.
“So starting on January 1 we had about 15,500 detainees and today we have 8,398 detainees,” he added.
“The last 180 detainees will leave Camp Bucca to close the theater internment facility in an overnight operation.”
According to Quantock, the 180 suspects were being moved to Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport and to Taji, north of the capital.
“We’ve got about 2,200 dangerous radicals and extremists that are inside our facilities,” he said.
Quantock also pointed out that there was no proof that former detainees from Camp Bucca were involved in the devastating August 19 suicide truck bombings in Baghdad that claimed the lives of 95 people.
“There is no proof that that happened … Today, they have not produced (any) name,” said Quantock, whose forces have detained around 100,000 people since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, according to US figures.
—–Agencies