WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- U.S. forces in Iraq hold some 7,300 Iraqi prisoners of war, a number that includes "three or four" generals and some captured fighters who are not Iraqi nationals, the U.S. commander in charge of a newly constructed prison camp said Wednesday.
None of the prisoners will be sent to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where fighters captured in Afghanistan are being held without benefit of official prisoner of war status.
Col. John Della Jacono, deputy chief of staff for the coalition land component commander in Iraq, told reporters the Army's 800th Military Police Brigade now running the Theater Internment Facility at Umm Qasr will soon commence Article 5 tribunal hearings. The hearing will designate detainees either as full POWs, bring criminal charges against them, or let them go.
The military had planned on taking about 50,000 POWs as a "worst case" scenario, far fewer than the 83,000 prisoners captured. Based on its experience in the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. military planners expected to see whole Republican Guard units surrender. That has not happened, Jacono said.
"We kind of developed a capitulation strategy to allow these Republican Guard divisions or regular army divisions to capitulate on the battlefield," he said. "However, at this point in time we have seen very few capitulate."
Foot soldiers have been allowed to abandon their positions without being pursued for capture.
"I think the information campaign has taken an effect here. I think a lot of soldiers are just leaving," said Jacono.
The internment camp, initially built by the British, will likely be expanded to hold 24,000 people in increments of camps that each hold 4,000.
Prisoners are staying in tents of about 15 people each. Sand berms, concertina wire and watchtowers surround the camp. Jacono said 263 prisoners are receiving medical treatment, some of them on Navy hospital ships.
Upon arrival prisoners are given a "substantial" lunch kit. They receive two hot meals a day consisting of meat, vegetables, rice, broth, fruit, juice and tea. They will soon receive prayer rugs.
Red Cross officials visited the facility last week for three to five days in keeping with the requirements of international law. The organization is taking next-of-kin information to notify the prisoners' families of their status, and is also checking to make sure conditions are humane.
