Sign suggestion for U.S. Dept. of State
The U.S. Embassy is aware of cases where discrepancies in permits or paperwork have resulted in legal action, including detention, by Iraqi police and other entities. Detentions often last 24-96 hours or more. The Embassy’s ability to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens are arrested or otherwise detained throughout Iraq is limited, including in and around Baghdad. Please refer to the current Travel Warning for further information about limitations, as well as information about the security situation.
~ U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq
U.S. Embassy workers detained in Baghdad
Dan Morse – (Washington Post) – BAGHDAD – January 12, 2012 – Four U.S. Embassy workers driving through Baghdad were stopped and detained by Iraqi security forces for two hours Thursday, a day after the embassy warned that some American citizens working here had been held for days over “discrepancies in permits and paperwork.”
The tensions come more than three weeks after the U.S. military left a country that has since been rocked by a political crisis and spectacular bombings. Baghdad’s governor was quoted on an Iraqi news Web site Thursday as calling the embassy workers’ behavior “suspicious.” But an embassy spokesman played down the detention, saying the staff members were served tea as security officers checked their paperwork.
“The identities were verified, and they were released,” said the spokesman, Michael McClellan.
Other U.S. citizens have apparently been held much longer.
“Detentions often last 24-96 hours or more,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement posted on its Web site. “The Embassy’s ability to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens are arrested or otherwise detained throughout Iraq is limited, including in and around Baghdad.”
This was supposed to be the diplomatic phase of the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership, with the American presence anchored by State Department workers inside the sprawling U.S. Embassy in the fortified Green Zone.
McClellan would not say what the four staff members were doing, calling it “routine movement.” Diplomats have to leave the Green Zone to visit certain government agencies and businesses, in addition to other Iraqi cities.
McClellan said that embassy staffers always travel with security personnel.
Two Iraqi news Web sites, alsumarianews.com and iraq-news.info, quoted Baghdad Gov. Salah Abdul Razzaq as saying that the Americans told Iraqi officers they were in the area to check on security.
According to Agence France-Presse, the governor said that the group comprised two men and two women driving a BMW with local license plates, rather than diplomatic registration, and that all were armed and wearing flak jackets. Security forces stopped the group, checked their ID badges and “found them suspicious,” Razzaq told AFP, adding that the group had been stopped at 9 a.m. in a central Baghdad neighborhood.
The Post could not reach the governor for comment.
In the warning notice posted on its Web site, the U.S. Embassy said that “the Government of Iraq is strictly enforcing immigration and customs procedures, to include visas and stamps for entry and exit, vehicle registration, and authorizations for weapons, convoys, logistics, and other matters,” adding, “Rules and procedures may be subject to frequent revisions, and previous permissions may be deemed invalid.”
The moves come as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has used speeches and interviews to celebrate Iraq’s full independence as a nation in the wake of the U.S. departure. They also follow a recent report by the World Bank ranking Iraq as the 164th most difficult nation in the world in which to do business, out of 183 countries. (Click HERE for original article)
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Snatched in Iraq: Aussie tells of kidnap torment
Erin Tennant – (NineMSN) – December 23, 2011 – Tracy Baxendine was a prisoner in a small white room at a nondescript compound in Baghdad’s Green Zone.
Her kidnappers were armed and explicit about what they wanted to know: home address back in Australia, names of family members, bank account details, even her car rego number.
She and a male co-worker had been driving to the Australian embassy in Iraq’s war-torn capital to take care of some paperwork on August 30 last year when they and their bodyguard escort were ambushed.
The abductors made no attempt to conceal their faces but nor did they identify themselves.
Their line of questioning made Tracy think they were being held for ransom.
It was just the start of a nightmarish ordeal lasting more than 30 hours that saw the 47-year-old Adelaide woman and her co-worker ferried from one group of captors to the next, charged with baseless crimes and refused any contact with Australian consular officials. (Click HERE for article)
I can tell you from being on the ground here in Iraq that DoS is way behind the eight ball on what it was going to be like when the Army decided to take all of its toys and go home… Garbage is piling up, Sewage tankers are being escorted by PSD teams and nobody can move an inch because the Immigration rules change daily…unless of course you like jail. Nobody seems to have the magic key that would allow you to move over here unmolested by the Iraqi Military and evidently something was lost in the translation when the Military pulled out and they have the impression that everything and anything still on the US controlled compounds now belongs to them regardless of who owns it… DoS remains mum on this saying they are unaware of any issues!!
Pernix Group, Inc. an international company specializing in the construction, power generation and RF Transmitter markets announced today that its Joint Venture with Ledcor Construction, Inc. and Serka Insaat VeTicaret A.S. (PLS JV) received an award from the U.S. Department of State. Pernix Group is the majority stakeholder in PLS JV which had been awarded a multi-billion dollar Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for design, construction, supply and/or installation of pre-fabricated and engineered containerized housing and office units with integrated building systems and complete site infrastructure. The base IDIQ contract was awarded in January 2011 by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and is earmarked for support of U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide as well as U.S. global operations in support of contingency, humanitarian and emergency relief.
Those companies who are losing assets to the Iraqis need to file a U.S. Government Claim within 6 years of the their contract closing and against either the Prime or the U.S. Government directly. Write to info@al-enezi-law-kuwait.com for more information.
THAT is why the DoS are being so quiet – they want all the companies who are incurring loses to just go away. It is part of the exit strategy of the U.S. Government.
Maybe with a few claims coming in – the DoS will find their sense of responsibility.
This Autobot will never work there again unless there is no other option. For all I care they can all kill each other and die from whater plauge befalls them. That country was a piece of shit when we went in there and never changed and is still a piece of shit at the end of 2011 when our troops left. Screw em all and let em die. All Americans who are there now need to get the hell outa there before Al-Sadr takes over and kills them all. Get the F*&K out while you have a chance.