On September 4, the Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Hayat reported: "General David Quantock, commander of Task Force 134 which runs the American detention centers in Iraq, said yesterday that the US forces are holding 17 Arab detainees who have various nationalities and will hand them over to the Iraqi Government at the end of this month or early next month.
"In a statemenet to Al-Hayat, he said that the "process of handing over the Arab detainees to the Iraqi Government started three months ago. There were 137 detainees at the outset of the process and 120 of them were moved to Iraqi detention centers while the US forces kept the remaining ones and will hand them over at the designated date." He added that the "US forces cannot take measures about the detainees without looking into their dossiers and the orders to arrest them. They did not release any detainee without examining his dossier in cooperation with the Iraqi Government."
"Asked about the delayed closure of the "Boca" detention center in Basra, the US general said "the US forces will close Boca by mid-September. The delay was due to the measures for releasing the detainees and also the examination of their dossiers before handing them over to the Iraqi Government or releasing them." He noted that "Boca" has only 540 detainees and the US forces will continue to examine their cases and close the center in mid-September. Though the US forces will close "Boca" as a detention center "permanently", the US general asserted they would not hand it over to the Iraqi Government now."
