U.S. military officials are preparing to transfer a Hizbullah terrorist prisoner to Iraqi authorities in Baghdad shortly. But they're worried, because they fear he will escape – or even be freed – once he is in Iraqi custody.
The prisoner, Hizbullah commander Ali Moussa Daqduq masterminded a 2007 raid in which four American soldiers were kidnapped and killed in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala. He also was involved in training the Shi'ite terrorists who target U.S. soldiers in Iraq, together with Iranian operatives, a military spokesman told The Associated Press.
Past plans to try Daqduq in the United States faltered in clashes between Congress and the White House over how to prosecute such terrorists.
Eventually, Washington made an agreement with Iraq in 2008 to transfer prisoners in U.S. custody to local authorities by the end of 2011. Some 10 such prisoners are left, including Daqduq.
“He's the worst of the worst,” commented former CIA officer Bob Baer, who specialized in tracking Hizbullah terrorists. “He has American blood on his hands. If released, he'll go back to shedding more of it.”