WESTERN BUREAU:
THE FATE of ten Iraqi nationals - two of them naturalised Canadian citizens, who were detained by local immigration officials on Monday, remained uncertain up to late last night.
Some police sources said they were not sure where the Iraqis were being held but one source confirmed that at least one of them was detained at the Barrett Town lock-up, about 10 miles from downtown, Montego Bay. Other police sources said the others were being kept at a villa in the Great River community in Hanover.
"We don't know what is going on. Nobody is talking to us," one officer told The Gleaner.
Peter Salkey, the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) liaison officer for St. James, said yesterday that he was not privy to the information surrounding the matter and was therefore unable to assist the media.
One senior officer told The Gleaner yesterday that the Iraqis arrived in Montego Bay from Cuba on Sunday evening and were scheduled to depart for Belize. Their flight was delayed, however, and this prevented immigration officers from landing the Iraqis, since they were considered in-transit passengers. Consequently, they were housed at a villa.
"Coincidentally, United States Ambassador Sue Cobb, was slated to tour the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Terminal on Monday when the US Embassy learnt that the Iraqis were in Montego Bay," the officer said.
"As a result, the US State Department was contacted and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were flown into the island on Monday to interrogate them. With the threat of war looming, I am not sure what the State Department may do," he said.
He continued: "As for us (the police), we cannot do anything if their documents are OK and they are in transit," he said.
The Iraqis presence did not affect Ambassador Cobb's tour.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson at the CCN headquarters in Kingston said they were aware that some Iraqis had been held but said it seemed they were being treated as normal illegal immigrants.
"They are being processed. I don't know the specific reasons why the FBI agents were called in," the spokesperson said.
