CENTCOM NEWS RELEASE.

July 24, 2003
Release Number: 03-07-75

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAW ENFORCEMENT ISSUES TOP HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi women are being trained by Coalition forces for the Facility Protection Service as one of the many ways they are helping Iraqis with law enforcement. They are also working with the Iraqi court system and refurbishing a detention center.

In a two-day training session, the first 14 Iraqi women completed FPS training July 22 in Baghdad. The training, which included instruction in hand-to-hand combat, weapons familiarization, professional conduct and personal interaction, was led by five female 1st Armored Division soldiers. It also included classes on how to conduct searches of people and vehicles.

The 14 women are part of a force of more than 4,500 Iraqis who have volunteered to become Facilities Protection Service guards. The women will link up with different U.S. military task forces around Baghdad to guard critical sites like schools, hospitals and power plants.

The 3rd Infantry Division staff judge advocate on July 19 presented Al Fallujah judges and lawyers with certificates welcoming them to the Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield Bar Association. The Fallujah courts were the first to open in Iraq after the war.

Third ID soldiers began cooperation with members of the Fallujah judicial system immediately upon their arrival six weeks ago. This cooperation has already led to the conviction of a number of looters and weapons violators.

In Mosul, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) has recently completed repairs at the detention center located in the Al Najar neighborhood. The soldiers worked with Iraqi contractors to fix locks, windows and doors at the jail. They also repaired holes in the jail’s outer wall, fixed barbed wire and repaired the generator. The detention center will hold up to 150 people.