Prisons handover only after Iraqis improve standard: US - Irony alert

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/December/focusoniraq_December182.xml§ion=focusoniraq&col=

BAGHDAD - The US military will not hand over detention facilities or individual detainees to Iraqi officials until they’ve demonstrated higher standards of care, a US official said on Sunday, two weeks after the discovery of 120 abused Iraqi prisoners.

Lt-Col Barry Johnson said detention facilities in Iraq will be transferred over time to Iraqi officials but that they must first demonstrate that detainees’ human rights aren’t being violated and that international law is being followed.

“A specific timeline for doing this is difficult to project at this stage with so many variables,” said Johnson, a military spokesman. “The Iraqis are committed to doing this right and will not rush to failure. The transition will be based on meeting standards, not on a timeline.”

In other developments on Sunday, 17 people were killed in violence around Iraq, including a US soldier killed by a bomb in Baghdad. Five Iraqi soldiers were killed by a suicide car bomb in the capital.