Lt. Col. Michael Callanan told United Press International that shortly after an inspection of the jail by the new commander of coalition forces in western Iraq, Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, U.S. forces had stepped in to "advise and assist" the Iraqis with the management of the jail.

Callanan, the point man for the U.S. military on rule-of-law issues in Anbar province, which includes Fallujah, told UPI in a phone interview Monday that cash from a special commander's contingency fund known as CERP was being used to provide food in the jails in Fallujah and in the provincial capital Ramadi.

"They are being fed now," said Callanan of the prisoners, who until recently had to provide their own food or starve.

Iraqi contractors had been hired to feed "the majority of the prisoners" in both city jails.

He said "similar measures" were being taken by local commanders with CERP funds at the other 27 smaller jails in the province. In Ramadi, he said, the military was transitioning from using contractors to "providing food ... and an empty kitchen" to a women's volunteer group that would feed the inmates.

He described the CERP contracts as a temporary measure implemented for humanitarian reasons "in order to bridge the gap" until long-term arrangements were put in place by the Iraqi government.

Establishing the rule of law and functioning judicial institutions is a priority for Kelly, who took over earlier this year as the commander of Multi-National Force-West, the coalition military command in the province, Callanan said.

U.S. military strategy in Iraq involves standing up robust security institutions that enjoy the confidence of the local population. In Anbar province and other Sunni-dominated parts of the country, U.S. forces have established so-called awakening councils, militias funded by the United States and led by tribal and other local leaders, many of whom are former insurgents.

Callanan said the U.S. military was promoting the use of two Baath Party-era legal frameworks, the 1969 Iraqi penal code and the 1971 order on criminal proceedings.

But the infrastructure needed "an overhaul," he acknowledged. "Anbar (province) is badly in need of a place where long-term convicted prisoners can be held," he said.

The United States was building such a facility, he said, at a cost of $24 million, and it would house 1,500 convicted prisoners and would open in spring 2009.

He said another new facility in Fallujah, for pretrial detainees, would also open around that time.

A similar facility, a provincial transfer jail under the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, opened in Ramadi recently. "People say it's the best jail in Iraq," said Callanan.

That may be a low bar. Kelly's visit to the Fallujah jail followed a report on conditions at the jail by independent journalist Michael Totten. Totten found a facility built to hold 120 prisoners housing 900 without even minimal provision for sanitation or hygiene.

Wikileaks.org, a Web site that aims to provide a secure way whistleblowers can "reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations" and says it favors government transparency, provided UPI with what it said was a note written following Kelly's visit.

The authenticity of the note could not be independently verified, but the organization has been a reliable source of document leaks in the past, and U.S. military officials did not contest its account of conditions at the jail.

The note describes "unbelievable overcrowding, total lack of anything approaching even minimal levels of hygiene for human beings, no food, little water, no ventilation," and says, "There is zero support from the (Iraqi) government for any of the jails in Anbar. No funds, food or medical support has been provided from any ministry."

Callanan said the problems at the Fallujah jail were exacerbated because the facility housed both convicted prisoners, the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, and pretrial detainees, who came under the Ministry of the Interior.

"It is not clear cut," he said of responsibility for the jail. "There are overlapping responsibilities."

Callanan said the baseline for jail conditions was low in Iraq. "What is normal in Iraq? �� We had people tell us it is normal for prisoners to have to fend for themselves."

He said his objective while the new facilities were being built was to train and work with the Iraqi police, so that when the new buildings were opened, they could be run according to international norms and standards.

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