Iraq wants to judge a UN guard

On Monday Iraqi officials asked the UN to surrender a Danish guard who fled Iraq after he was charged in a traffic accident resulted in the death of an Iraqi citizen.

Iraq wants UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to "take legal steps required to get a U.N. guard back into Iraq," the Iraqi News Agency (INA) said.

INA reported that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz wrote Annan to inform him about the Iraqi request.

"While specialized Iraqi judicial authorities were busy doing the necessary procedures concerning Lund Torbin's prosecution, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found out that he, on December. 6, 1997, fled Iraq. His escape impeded the prosecution measures," Aziz said.

"Torbin, violating official orders, with no Iraqi official permission and without UN Humanitarian Coordination permission deserted Iraq," Aziz confirmed.

Lund Torbin worked for a U.N. battalion in charge of humanitarian efforts in Iraq. A U.N. investigation committee had found him innocent. A judge in Arbil, Kurdistan Region capital, dropped both the civic and criminal charges against Torbin and the U.N. compensated the victim's family.