Contractor Held in Green Zone Death Is Released

BAGHDAD, June 10 -- One of five American contractors arrested in an investigation into the killing of a man last month in Baghdad's Green Zone was released from Iraqi custody, a spokesman from the U.S. Embassy said Thursday, though the others' fates remained unclear.

The men were arrested a week ago as part of an investigation into the death of Jim Kitterman, 60, whose body was found May 22. An Iraqi intelligence official said Kitterman, also a contractor, had been stabbed twice in the heart, bundled in a plastic bag and dumped in a lot less than a mile from the contractors' residence.

At the time, U.S. Embassy officials stressed that the men had not been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Kitterman's killing. During a search of their house, carried out by Iraqi forces in coordination with the FBI, they had found evidence on an unrelated matter, the officials said, without disclosing details. Since then, the men have been held at an Iraqi police station in the Green Zone.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that after a week of investigation, the men were ordered released because of a lack of evidence. He said he understood that they were freed Wednesday evening.

"After the interrogation, it was clear that they are not guilty," Dabbagh said in a telephone interview. "We don't have any other suspects at this point."

But conflicting reports swirled around the case late into the night.

Sarah Smith, a spokeswoman for Corporate Training Unlimited, a Fayetteville, N.C., security firm that employed the five men, said that only Don Feeney Jr., the 55-year-old founder of the company, was being freed.

Until now, she added, "nobody has made it clear why they were arrested in the first place or why they're being detained a week later."

She identified the others as Feeney's son, Donald Feeney III, 31; Mark Bridges, Micah Milligan and Jason Jones, all of whom were employed by the firm, which trains corporate and other officials in how to operate safely in conflict zones.

"The embassy can confirm that one of the five detained Americans was released on bond yesterday evening. At this time, the other four remain in custody," said James Fennell, a U.S. Embassy spokesman. The Iraqi intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said all five remained in custody and would not be released Wednesday. He said they were being held on suspicion of murder and for expired weapons permits.

If brought to court and charged, the men would have represented the first case in which Americans faced Iraqi justice under an agreement that took effect this year. Until then, all contractors were immune to the Iraqi legal process under an order signed by L. Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, in June 2004.

Correspondent Nada Bakri and special correspondent Qais Mizher contributed to this report.