A Polish diplomat looking after U.S. interests in Iraq was not able to see two Americans held in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison Tuesday, the day set by Iraqi authorities for his weekly visit to check on them.
No explanation was given for why Ryszard Krystosik was not allowed to talk to the Americans.U.S. State Department officials said in Washington on Monday that Polish diplomats in Baghdad had expressed their concern for the men's health to Iraqi authorities "in the strongest terms."
The Americans - David Daliberti, 41, of Jacksonville, Fla., and William Barloon, 39, of New Hampton, Iowa - were arrested by Iraqi border guards on March 13 when they strayed into Iraq while trying to visit friends at a U.N. post near the frontier with Kuwait.
The men, who both worked for U.S. defense contractors in Kuwait, were sentenced to eight-year prison terms March 25.
"I'm sorry, I can't make any statement today," Krystosik told reporters. "I'm not making any statement now, and I'm not answering any questions now."
Iraqi authorities said last week they would allow the Americans a weekly, one-hour visit by the Polish diplomat.
Daliberti and Barloon are held in a cellblock with 200 other Arab prisoners.
Krystosik had requested that prison authorities move the pair to a larger cell. He also has called for them to be released on humanitarian grounds.
Iraqi officials have declined to comment on the requests.
The Polish Embassy in Baghdad is handling U.S. interests since relations between Iraq and the United States were severed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
Meanwhile, the Americans' wives are seeking Baghdad's permission to visit Iraq to plead with officials for their husbands' release.
Iraqi officials said Tuesday that the wives would be issued visas as soon as they travel to Amman, capital of neighboring Jordan.
Travelers to Iraq must drive across the desert from Jordan as there has been no air link between Baghdad and the outside world since U.N. trade sanctions were imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait.