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American Facing Execution Loses Bid to Block Transfer to Iraqis

By Greg Stohr
Last Updated: November 13, 2006 14:32 EST

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block an American citizen from being transferred to Iraqi custody to be executed for taking part in a plot to kidnap three journalists.

Mohammad Munaf contended that he is entitled to a hearing in a federal court because he is being held by U.S. forces in Iraq. He was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court last month.

The justices made no comment today in rejecting a request to block the transfer filed by Munaf's sister, who was acting on his behalf.

The Bush administration urged the high court not to intervene. The government says U.S. courts have no authority to act because Munaf is in the legal custody of multinational coalition forces in Iraq, not that of the U.S. military.

Munaf is an Iraqi native who became a U.S. citizen in 2000. He traveled to Iraq in 2005 with three Romanian journalists who had asked him to serve as their guide.

The group was kidnapped shortly after arriving and held for more than two months before being freed by coalition forces. Munaf was then detained by the U.S. military under suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping.

The Bush administration says Munaf admitted, in writing and on camera, that he took part in the kidnapping-for-profit plot.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last month voted 2-1 to allow Munaf's transfer.

The case is Mohammed v. Harvey, 06A471.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at [e-mail] .

©2006 Bloomberg L.P.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBaZXutY5Vn8&refer=us

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U.S. Supreme Court refuses to block American's transfer to Iraq for execution

The Associated Press
Published: November 13, 2006

WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court refused Monday to intervene to keep an American facing a death sentence in Iraq from being handed over to authorities in Baghdad.

Muhammad Munaf has been in military custody in Iraq since last year. He was sentenced to death last month by an Iraqi judge for his role in the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad. He claimed his trial was flawed and his confession was coerced.

Munaf wanted justices to order military authorities to keep him under their control until U.S. courts resolve whether U.S. forces can turn over Americans who are suspected terrorists to the Iraqi government.

The court gave no explanation for its order Monday denying Munaf's request.

Munaf still is trying to persuade the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block his transfer after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth and a three-judge appeals court panel refused to get involved in his case.

Lamberth and the appellate panel said they lacked authority to intervene because the Iraqi-born Munaf, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000, was being held by coalition military forces, not by the U.S. military alone.

Whether the U.S. military or coalition forces have custody of Munaf is at the heart of a legal fight over the fate of American citizens being held in Iraq. Critics say it is disingenuous because the prisons that Munaf and others are being held in are operated by the U.S. military.

The appeals court in Washington is considering the similar case of Shawqi Omar, an American citizen accused of being a top al-Qaida lieutenant in Iraq. A different federal judge blocked Omar's transfer and the appeals court, which heard arguments in September, has yet to rule.

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/13/america/NA_GEN_US_Iraq_American.php

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[F6 note -- see also (items linked in):
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15006107 (. . .) and preceding (and following); and
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15005534 and preceding and following]