Iraq to Free Hezbollah Commander Accused in US Troop Slay Plot - East Idaho News
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Iraq to Free Hezbollah Commander Accused in US Troop Slay Plot

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GETTY W 102511 ArrestHandcuffed?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1336466993264Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — In a decision that will likely strain relations between Washington and Baghdad, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq announced Monday that it was freeing a jailed Hezbollah commander who allegedly plotted the deaths of five American soldiers in January 2007.

The Iraqi court plans on releasing Ali Musa Daqduq based on what it claimed was a lack of evidence against him.

At the time of Daqduq’s capture in March 2007, the military said he confessed to helping to train Iraqi militants to kill U.S. and coalition forces at joint training camps run by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah near Tehran.

Daqduq remained in U.S. custody until last December when the military officially handed over all prisoners to Iraq as part of the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed with Baghdad.

At the time, some Republican members of Congress insisted that Daqduq should not be left behind in Iraq but their request was overruled by the Obama administration, which said it would be a breach of the new security pact.

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