Carshalton man held as Iraq terrorist after pacemaker mistaken for bomb (From This Is Local London)

Carshalton man held as Iraq terrorist after pacemaker mistaken for bomb

6:50am Thursday 13th November 2008

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A businessman is being held by American forces in Iraq after a heart monitor he created was mistaken for a bomb.

Kadhum Ridha Al-Sarraj, who lives in Carshalton, has been held against his will for 60 days after being arrested on terrorism charges in the war-torn country.

Mr Al-Sarraj, 29, a salesman with medical equipment supplier Matana, was picked up by American forces as he flew into northern Iraq to sell pacemakers.

The Americans swooped after mistaking his former MSc degree project measuring cardiac output for a bomb device.

Mr Al-Sarraj, an Iraqi national with a UK visa, has now been held for eight weeks in Baghdad with limited contact with his family, who fear for his health.

His wife Shereen Nasser, who is British, has come up against a brick wall at the Foreign Office and British Embassy, who claim there is nothing they can do.

Mrs Nasser, 24, a research assistant, said: “I’m getting very worried about how long this will go on for and how it will affect him.

“The last time I spoke to him he sounded terrible.

“How can such an honest hard-working person, who is respected by all who work with him – both his colleagues and customers – be put in such a position through no fault of his own?’’ Mrs Nasser said she believed her husband’s Nahrin University MSc project fell into the Americans’ hands after his family’s Baghdad home was burgled two years ago when the family fled the city.

Mr Al-Sarraj’s device was stolen along with other belongings and when the Americans gained possession, they dusted it for fingerprints.

Mr Al-Sarraj was then arrested at Erbil international airport on September 15 when his fingerprints provoked a terrorist alert.

Member of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington Tom Brake said the Americans knew Mr Al-Sarraj was not guilty but could not release him due to “procedure’’.

The American Embassy has so far failed to answer Mr Brake’s enquiries.

Amnesty International spokesman Neil Durkin said the charity had also written twice on Mr Al-Sarraj’s behalf to Multinational Forces senior commander in Iraq, Brigadier David Quantock, and the head of detainee affairs in Washington, but received no response.

He said: “Unfortunately this man is not unique.

“There are currently 15,000 to 17,000 detainees in Iraq held by the Multinational Forces, most without charge or trial in breach of international law.’’ A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are investigating the situation.”

The American Embassy was unavailable for comment.

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