U.S. holding 5 Americans in Iraq

The U.S. army is holding five American citizens in Iraq on suspicion of having links to fighters or criminal activity, Pentagon officials said.

The five prisoners have not charged, and have not had access to a lawyer. They are being held at one of the three U.S.-run prisons in Iraq.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman refused to identify them, citing the army's policy of not releasing the names of detainees.

But one was identified by his family and U.S. and law enforcement officials as Cyrus Kar, an Iranian-U.S. film-maker and a U.S. navy veteran.

His family in Los Angeles said that he was in Iraq to film a documentary on King Cyrus the Great, who established Persia.
He was detained in May.

Whitman said that Kar has been arrested in a car which was also carrying several dozen washing machine timers, which can be used in making bombs.

U.S. officials said a cameraman and a taxi driver were also arrested with Kar.

A U.S.-based human rights organization sued the U.S. government for Kar's release, saying that his detention violates his constitutional rights, federal law, international law and U.S. military regulations.

"He just had the misfortune to get into the wrong cab," said Steven R Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Our position is that if the government has any evidence against him, bring him home and charge in a court and then proceed accordingly."

Kar's family said that an FBI official in Los Angeles told them that he had been cleared of any charges and that the washing machine timers allegedly belonged to the taxi driver.

"I'm here to beg President Bush... to release an innocent boy," said Kar's aunt, Parvin Modarress, at a press conference.

Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans, Whitman said, adding that the fifth is originally from Jordan.

The U.S.-Jordanian was arrested late last year and is accused of having links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq.

Of the Iraqi-Americans, one is accused of having knowledge of a planned attack and a second may have been linked to a kidnapping operation, Whitman said.

The third was "engaged in suspicious activity", he said without elaborating.

Whitman also said that the International Committee of the Red Cross has visited each of the detainees.

If there are charges, it is not immediately clear whether U.S. courts or Iraq's legal system would handle the cases.