BLT:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey today was in Baghdad to oversee some of the Justice Department's programs and discuss the rule of law in Iraq with local authorities.
Mukasey met with some of the more than 200 DOJ personnel who are currently serving in the U.S. mission in Iraq, visited the international forces' surgical combat hospital and dined with soldiers at the U.S. embassy.
“The United States is at a critical juncture in Iraq, and the Justice Department is working to ensure sustainability of the freedom and security for which our men and women in uniform have so bravely fought and sacrificed,” Mukasey said in a statement released by his office early this morning.
In addition to discussions with Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Mukasey also met with Chief Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud, the head of Iraq's higher judicial council and two other high-ranking members of the Iraqi judiciary.
“Our civilian volunteers are working with the Iraqi people to build a legal system fashioned by cultures and customs very different from our own but founded upon the same bedrock principles: due process and the rule of law," Mukasey said.
Among the DOJ programs are the Criminal Division’s office of overseas prosecutorial development assistance and training — which is assisting Iraqi prosecutors — and the international criminal investigative training assistance program that is helping train the Iraqi police. In addition, agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are stationed in Baghdad as part of a joint Iraqi-U.S. major crimes task force.
The Baghdad visit marks Mukasey’s second official trip overseas in as many months. He was in Mexico last month for bilateral talks with his counterpart.
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