| Two U.S. defense contractors were accused in a class-action suit on Wednesday of conspiring with U.S. officials to torture and abuse prisoners in Iraq. The suit, filed in San Diego, alleged San-Diego based Titan Corp. and CACI International of Arlington, Virginia, engaged in "heinous and illegal acts" to show they could get intelligence from detainees, and thereby obtain more government contracts. Employees from both firms, which provided interrogation and translation services in Iraq, were named in a report on Iraqi prison abuse by U.S. Army investigator Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba...The two companies are accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, an anti-conspiracy law originally enacted to target organized crime...The lawsuit charged that Stephen Stefanowicz and John Israel of CACI Inc. and [Adel]Nahkla "directed and participated in illegal conduct" at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad... The lawsuit also alleged CACI and Titan created a joint enterprise with a third party that became known as "Team Titan" which was hired by the United States to provide interrogation services in Iraq... |