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2,760 non-Iraqi detainees in Iraqi jails, 800 Iranians - official

DAMASCUS, Aug 8 (KUNA) -- Up to 2,760 non-Iraqis are locked up in Iraqi jails, among them 800 Iranians, the Iraqi delegation to an international security meeting in Damascus revealed on Wednesday. The rest include Arabs and foreigners.
The statement was made during a closed evening session that focused on activating security collaboration among Iraq's neighbors to protect the Iraqi borders against foreign infiltration by insurgents into the country. "Among the detainees are Arabs and others from Afghanistan and Iran, the latter's citizens entered Iraq claiming they would visit religious shrines," an informed source told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) following by the end of the first day discussions. There are others detained by the coalition.
The source added that the participant delegations had asked the Iraqis to provide them with the names of their nationals detained in Iraq so that they could "take the necessary measures." As for the absence of Saudi Arabia from the Damascus security meeting on Iraq, the source said Riyadh was of the view that such an expert meeting would "rob the Arab Ministers of Interior Council of its domain." The Council is due to meet in Kuwait in October.
"We respect the Saudi view but the (Damascus) meetings do not make decisions but recommendations to be referred to the concerned Ministers of Interior," the source noted.
On the expected recommendations, the source said that it would be topped with controlling terrorists' moves across the Iraq's borders with neighbor countries. They will also emphasize the necessity of exchanging information among these countries on the detainees and the terrorist elements apprehended in Iraq.
The countries taking part in the meetings are Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt together with an Arab League delegation, ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the US Charge d'affaires in Damascus as an observer. (pickup previous) om.msa KUNA 082242 Aug 07NNNN