SDAI-Tech1>The fact the British had to knock down a wall to effect a jailbreak seems to be a pretty good sign that the Iraqi government doesn't take orders from the Bush, Rumsfeld, Blair or any "occupation army". As a matter of fact this same event can be used to illustrate just how sovereign they really are.

Not quite. Apparently, U.S.-led coalition personnel, both military and civilian, remain immune to the Iraqi legal system. (See page 8 of "Advance Questions for General George W. Casey, Jr., U.S. Army.")

Brigadier John Lorimer, Commander of 12 Mechanized Brigade:

"During the morning two British soldiers were detained at the Jamiat Police Station in Basra. Under Iraqi law, as MNF soldiers, they should have been handed over to the Coalition authorities. The Consul-General and I asked repeatedly for this but it did not happen.

"During the day we went to exhaustive lengths to achieve the hand-over of the soldiers. And in fact, as a result, we understand that the Iraqi Interior Minister personally ordered the release of the soldiers. However, that order seems to have been ignored.

[...]

"I am delighted that the two British soldiers are back with British Forces and are in good health. We will be following up with the authorities in Basra why the soldiers were not immediately handed over to MNF as Iraqi law (CPA Order 17) says that they should have been.

[...]

As an aside, I find it odd that the official Website of the Iraqi Transitional Government is avaliable only in Arabic. I can't find an English language version of it.