Carshalton man to face terrorism trial in Iraq

11:46am Saturday 15th November 2008

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A Carshalton man being held by American forces in Iraq who mistook a heart monitor device he created for a bomb will now face trial on terrorism charges, it has been announced.

The Sutton Guardian reported on Thursday how businessman Kadhum Ridha Al-Sarraj had been arrested after his fingerprints triggered a security alert as he flew into Iraq to sell pacemakers.

The 29-year-old, a salesman with medical equipment supplier Matana, has been held for eight weeks in Baghdad with limited contact to his family since being arrested on September 15.

It has now been said that Mr Al-Sarraj, an Iraqi national with a UK visa, will stand trial on terrorism charges.

Major Neal V. Fisher II, from the Task Force 134 unit in charge of detainee control in Iraq told the BBC Mr Al-Sarraj was still considered “a threat to the security of Iraq”.

He said: "He is a detainee being held at Camp Cropper in Baghdad. He was detained on September 15, 2008 under suspicion of terrorism and bomb making charges.

“His case has been reviewed by a Combined Review and Release Board and is now awaiting trial in the central courts of Iraq."

Mr Al-Sarraj’s wife Shereen Nasser, 24, said she believed the heart monitor project fell into American 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 which then sparked the security alert when Mr Al-Sarraj returned to the country.

She said: “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?’’