RIYADH — A Saudi family from Jubail has found out that one of their sons is incarcerated in Iraq, it was reported on Thursday. In a telephone call received about two weeks ago that lasted less than two minutes, the family found out 26-year-old Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani was currently being held in a Baghdad prison. The family, according to local daily Al-Watan, did not know his whereabouts before they received the call. A lawyer for Saudi detainees in Iraq Abdul Rahman Al-Jirais said an undersecretary of the Iraqi Interior Ministry told him a Saudi citizen was arrested but the ministry opted not to reveal his identity before investigations were completed. The undersecretary said Al-Qahtani was arrested near Mosul. Al-Jirais said the telephone call revealed the detainee was Al-Qahtani, who was born in Jubail. Meanwhile, the Kingdom has asked Iraqi authorities to respond to allegations that a number of Saudi prisoners had gone on food strike because they were being abused. Hamad Al-Hajri, plenipotentiary at the Kingdom's embassy in Jordan, said: “Riyadh has asked Baghdad to explain these claims.” Al-Hajri said the embassy addressed Iraqi officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq about the protests launched by Saudi prisoners in Iraq against their alleged torture and maltreatment. He said the embassy, which is entrusted to follow up on Saudi prisoners in Iraq, did not receive any official information about the strikes. “We, however, immediately started communicating with concerned Iraqi officials about the issue. “We also asked the ICRC to check the humanitarian conditions of the Saudi prisoners in Iraq. “This is not the first time Saudi prisoners went on a hunger strike. “They entered into a series of similar strikes, the latest of which was about three months ago.” Al-Hajri referred to the recent release of Saudi prisoner Mohammed Hamdan after spending nine years in Iraqi prisons and said contact with Iraqis was continuing for the release of more Saudi prisoners. Meanwhile Jordan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia Jamal Al-Shamailah said an agreement to swap prisoners between the two countries would be implemented early in 2013. He said there were 60 Saudi detainees in Jordan, some being held in connection with criminal offences, against 200 Jordanian detainees in Saudi Arabia. The ambassador made the statements after a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday with chairman of the Saudi Red Crescent Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah. He revealed court verdicts were issued against 80 percent of Saudi detainees while the rest are still being considered. The ambassador's talks with Prince Faisal also covered the issue of Syrian refugees in Jordan and said “The prince assured me Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is deeply concerned about providing extensive support to Syrian refugees in Jordan, particularly security, food and medicine.” — SG
