June 1 — A U.S. Marine spokesman said late today that allegations about the mistreatment of 16 American contract security workers and three Iraqis jailed in Fallujah are untrue.
They were “treated humanely and respectfully,” he said in an e-mail.

June 1 — A U.S. Marine spokesman said late today that allegations about the mistreatment of 16 American contract security workers and three Iraqis jailed in Fallujah are untrue.
They were “treated humanely and respectfully,” he said in an e-mail.
That account differs considerably from what several nervous wives of the contractors are hearing. They say their spouses were treated roughly and allowed no phone calls while they were detained for 72 hours by the U.S. Marines in cells adjacent to suspected insurgents.
Ten of the 16 American contractors are former Marines, one wife said. “It just kills them to know that the Marines could do to them what they did.”
The contractors were released without charges. The majority of them may return to the United States later this week. An unknown number of the security workers are believed to have made contact with their senators in Washington, DC.
One question I am working on now, is that IF these contractors were roughed up, was that before or after they arrived at the jail?
The Marine spokesman explained that Marines were on the lookout for a convoy similar in appearance to the one the security workers were driving. “Marines saw passengers in the vehicles firing out the windows,” he said (see statement below).
All 19 security workers were employees of Zapata Engineering, said Manuel Zapata, president of the Charlotte, NC, firm. The company holds a multimillion contract with the Army Corps of Engineers to supervise the captured enemy ammunition program in Fallujah.
“They didn’t fire on the Marines, I can tell you that,” Zapata said during a brief phone conversation this evening.
Zapata referred all other questions to the Army Corps of Engineers, but added that everything he read on an unnamed blog is wrong.
“They just provide misinformation,” he said, adding that he had no other information.
U.S. Marine Spokesman in Iraq Responds (this afternoon):

“Here are the basic facts — further details are pending the outcome of the investigation.
At approximately 2 p.m. on May 28, Marines of Regimental Combat Team-8 in Fallujah reported receiving small arms fire from gunman in several late-model trucks and sport utility vehicles. Marines also witnessed passengers in the vehicles firing at and near civilian cars on the street.
Three hours later, another Marine observation post was fired on by
gunmen from vehicles matching the description of those involved in the earlier attack. Marines saw passengers in the vehicles firing out the windows.
The vehicles were stopped without further incident by spike strips
placed on the road at a nearby observation post. No civilians, Marines or contractors were injured in the incidents.
The 16 Americans and three Iraqi citizens were taken into custody and held at the regional detention facility at Camp Fallujah, just outside the city. In accordance with standard operating procedures, the Americans were segregated from the rest of the detainee population and, like all security detainees, were treated humanely and respectfully.
The 19 contractors were released on Tuesday, May 31 and safely
transported to their compound near Baghdad, along with representatives of the company that employed them. Their weapons and vehicles were impounded as part of the investigation.
The incident remains under investigation by the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service.
We are not releasing information about the contract firm pending the
outcome of the investigation.”