ICRC still seeking access to Iraqi-run prisons

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

ICRC still seeking access to Iraqi-run prisons
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, May 24 (Reuters) - The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday he was not optimistic about a breakthrough in talks with Iraqi officials to gain access to up to 20,000 people held in Iraqi-run prisons.

The neutral humanitarian agency is already visiting some 17,500 people in Iraq who are detained either by American, Kurdish or British authorities, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said.

The ICRC announced six months ago that it was close to an agreement with Iraqi authorities to allow its officials to visit inmates at Iraqi detention centres, where Sunnis have alleged inmates are tortured, but talks have dragged on.

"We are still in negotiation about an agreement with them. It is the modalities of our visits which we have to negotiate with them," Kellenberger told a news conference.

Asked about the impasse, he replied: "I don't think that I am expressing extreme optimism."

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