Iraq commander: coalition to reconsider Iraqi army pay after desertions

Associated Press
December 13, 2003
By HAMZA HENDAWI

BAGHDAD, Iraq - … Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who had previously given the number of detainees under coalition control in Iraq as about 5,000, conceded that the number is now "almost to 10,000."

Among those are 3,800 members of the Iranian militant group Mujahedeen Khalq, who are restricted to their camp northeast of Baghdad and are "separated" from their weapons, Sanchez said. The Mujahedeen have been fighting Iran's religious government from bases in Iraq and the coalition considers them a terrorist organization.