BAGHDAD, Sept 22 (AFP) - There are no plans for an imminent release of Iraqi women held by the coalition in Iraq, a US embassy spokesman told AFP Wednesday.
The Iraqi justice minister had said earlier the release of at least one of two women biologists detained by the coalition forces in Iraq could be imminent.
"Both of them are in the physical and legal custody of the multinational forces, there is no imminent release, and these cases are constantly under review," the spokesman told AFP.
The ministry's announcement had offered a glimmer of hope to the family of a British engineer held hostage by Islamists who demand the coalition free all the Iraqi women it detains.
Kenneth Bigley's two US colleagues were beheaded by militants loyal to Abu Mussab Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is the most wanted man in Iraq and is suspected of ties with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Kassem Daoud said the justice ministry's declarations had been used out of context and confirmed that no release was imminent.
He explained that the case of Rihab Taha -- a biologist suspected of involvement in an illegal weapons program under Saddam Hussein -- was one of 20 that had been reviewed recently and for whom the Iraqi justice ministry had recommended a release.
"It won't happen today, tomorrow or the day after ... All security procedures relating to their release have to be completed first," Daoud said at a press conference in Baghdad.
He said that along with Taha, the justice ministry had recommended the release of her husband, former oil minister Amer Rashid, and Hikmat al-Azzawi, both also suspected of involvement in weapons of mass destruction programs.
Azzawi is a former finance minister and deputy prime minister, number 28 on the US most wanted list issued before the March 2003 invasion and the eight of diamonds in the coalition's "deck of cards". He was captured on April 18, 2003.
Daoud explained that the security procedures that Taha and the two other detainees have to go through before release include medical checkups and insuring their safety.
"The procedure could take a week, two weeks or days."
The Iraqi government can only issue a recommendation for releases and the coalition retains a veto.
Daoud said the demands formulated by Zarqawi's Tawhid wal Jihad group were completely unrelated to the planned releases.
"The official position of the Iraqi government is that there will be no negotiation with terrorists under any circumstances," Daoud said.
"Negotiating with the terrorists will give them the green light to widen the net of their activities."