Two Americans who strayed across Kuwait's border into Iraq were sentenced to eight years in prison Saturday in what the United States called a misguided attempt at diplomatic coercion.
David Daliberti and William Barloon were tried and convicted for illegally entering Iraqi territory, the State Department said, citing Polish diplomats who were monitoring the case for the American government.Iraq had linked the Americans' fate to U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 - a linkage Washington rejects. The United States has been adamant about maintaining the crippling sanctions imposed after Iraq's invasion. Iraq has been lobbying for the sanctions to be lifted.
In Washington, Christine Shelly, a State Department spokeswoman, called the sentences an "obvious misguided attempt to take advantage of two Americans."
"There is no justification whatsoever for these sentences," she said in a statement. "These two Americans committed no offense justifying jail sentences. Mr. Barloon and Mr. Daliberti should be released immediately."
She called any attempt to link the sanctions on Iraq to the Americans' sentences misguided, adding that "in our diplomatic contacts, we are making it clear that Iraq has nothing to gain" by doing so.
A White House official said President Clinton was following the situation closely and that the U.S. government is "continuing to work diplomatically for the return of these Americans."
No U.S. officials were present during the one-day trial, which a State Department communique said took place on Saturday.
Two Polish diplomats who represent U.S. interests in Iraq attended as observers, and the men were represented by a lawyer appointed by the Iraqi government, sources close to the case in Iraq said.
Trials in Iraq are conducted before a judge but without a jury. The maximum sentence for illegally entering Iraq is 20 years in jail.
Western officials say the two men accidentally strayed across the border from Kuwait on March 13 while trying to visit a friend with the U.N. force that monitors the frontier.
Nizar Hamdoon, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, had no information on the Americans, but said he might have some new information today.
"This demonstrates the value of a bilateral dialogue," Hamdoon said, voicing Iraq's long-standing desire for formal diplomatic ties with Washington.
Joe Sills, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, declined to comment on the case.
Daliberti, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., and Barloon, 39, from New Hampton, Iowa, were both employees of American defense contractors in Kuwait.
"It's been one huge mistake, which has now mushroomed into an eight-year prison sentence," said Barloon's brother, Edward Barloon of Rosemount, Minn.
In Jacksonville, Daliberti's father, Raymond, expressed outrage.
"I haven't been happy with Iraq since the first time we had problems with them. I'm very disgusted with the whole situation," he said. "People cross our borders all the time . . . and they don't get eight years in prison."
Daliberti's wife, Kathy, received notification Saturday morning from the State Department that her husband had been tried and sentenced, said Joyce McCall, a family spokeswoman.
She said the Dalibertis have "a strong hope that the sentence will not have to be served completely."
Kathy Daliberti said that Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., sent letters to Clinton and Boutros-Ghali on Saturday asking that the Americans' plight be considered a "top priority" in the United Nations.