Still no charges for US-held Swede in Iraq
Sweden’s foreign ministry is still waiting for details about the charges against a 40-year-old Swedish citizen who has been held by American authorities in Iraq for nearly one year.
“No, we have nothing more than that he is a so-called security-detainee,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Petra Hansson to the TT news agency.
The man, 40-year-old Ahmad Hamad, came to Sweden with his family from Iraq in 2000 and took up residence in Norrkoping in central Sweden.
Hamad, who hold both a Swedish and Iraqi passport, has been held since May 8th last year by American forces in Camp Cropper west of Baghdad.
Hamad’s wife has said her husband is not politically active. According to her, Hamad was arrested in his former hometown of Ramadi, while there in conjunction with his efforts to start a construction company.
Hamad was visited last June by staff from Sweden’s embassy in Jordan. He was visited again in February of this year, but Sweden’s foreign ministry has yet to learn from the Americans what he may have done to warrant the detention.
“We have said that he ought to be given a public defender and that he should be treated humanely and according to international law,” foreign ministry spokesperson Amelie Heinsjö told TT.
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“No, we have nothing more than that he is a so-called security-detainee,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Petra Hansson to the TT news agency.
The man, 40-year-old Ahmad Hamad, came to Sweden with his family from Iraq in 2000 and took up residence in Norrkoping in central Sweden.
Hamad, who hold both a Swedish and Iraqi passport, has been held since May 8th last year by American forces in Camp Cropper west of Baghdad.
Hamad’s wife has said her husband is not politically active. According to her, Hamad was arrested in his former hometown of Ramadi, while there in conjunction with his efforts to start a construction company.
Hamad was visited last June by staff from Sweden’s embassy in Jordan. He was visited again in February of this year, but Sweden’s foreign ministry has yet to learn from the Americans what he may have done to warrant the detention.
“We have said that he ought to be given a public defender and that he should be treated humanely and according to international law,” foreign ministry spokesperson Amelie Heinsjö told TT.
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