BBC: Escape from UK-run prison in Iraq (11 detainees)

[Eugene]

Last Updated: Friday, 16 March 2007, 13:28 GMT

Escape from UK-run prison in Iraq

Eleven detainees have escaped from a British military prison
in southern Iraq, the British Army has said.

Ten of them had "swapped" places with visitors over the past
week, an Army spokesman said.

Their disappearance from the Shuaiba military base, west of
the southern city of Basra, was only noticed on Friday.

It was not immediately clear when or how the prisoners
escaped. Some had been held for up to two years.

'Embarrassing incident'

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6458173.stm

[MetaTrope]

1. Strange, I thought only SAS personnel imprisoned in Iraq get "escaped"

:shrug:

[sabra]

2. k & r - important story

[maddezmom]

3. Clothes-swapping prisoners flee jail in Iraq

Clothes-swapping prisoners flee jail in Iraq
16 Mar 2007 16:29:58 GMT

BAGHDAD, March 16 (Reuters) - Ten prisoners who were being held at a British-run detention facility in Iraq escaped after they swapped clothes and changed places with a group of men posing as visitors, the British military said on Friday.

"This is a very regrettable situation and we are taking it very seriously," Major David Gell, a spokesman for the British military, said of the escape, which happened earlier in the week near the southern city of Basra.

He said the 10 impostors, who were part of a group of visitors at the centre, were being held at the Shaibah detention facility for questioning.

Gell would not give further details on the case but said the escaped prisoners "posed a threat to the security of Iraq and to Multinational Forces in Iraq."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO658221.htm

[leQ]

4. kick (n/t)