BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities have detained five U.S. contractors in connection with the death of another American contractor in Baghdad, officials said Sunday, in what could be the first case of Americans facing local justice under a pact that took effect this year.
The body of Jim Kitterman, who was reportedly bound, blindfolded and stabbed, was found in his car last month in the protected Green Zone where his small construction company was based.
It was an unprecedented slaying in the district and occurred at a time when blast walls are coming down and Iraqi forces are assuming greater control of their own security.
U.S Embassy spokesman James Fennell confirmed that five Americans are in Iraqi custody but said no formal charges have been filed.
Embassy officials have visited the men to make sure they’re being given their rights in accordance with Iraqi law, Fennell said, adding "the men appeared well.”
He said FBI agents were present during a search of the men’s quarters at the request of Iraqi authorities who are handling the investigation.
Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, a senior Iraqi Interior Ministry official, said the detained Americans were from the same company but declined to give more details because the investigation is ongoing.
Although Americans and others have been killed in rocket or mortar attacks in the Green Zone, Kitterman was believed to be the first American ever assassinated there since the protected area was established after the city fell to U.S. forces in April 2003.
Iraq assumed control of the Green Zone on Jan. 1 under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, taking primary responsibility from the Americans for searching vehicles and checking identity papers as entry checkpoints.
by the associated press
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