No prosecution for State Dept. official accused of sexual assault

The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News. Ali Mokhtare, who is still employed by the State Department, was investigated in 2005 after a female Halliburton/KBR employee said he sexually assaulted her at the company-run camp in Basra, Iraq. Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees. The US Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but "the case was declined for prosecution" states the document. Furthermore, investigators requested that the State Department suspend Mokhtare's security clearance, but according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the document, that request was denied. Tracy Barker, Mokhtare's alleged victim, is a mother of five from Fort Bragg, NC. She says she wants Mokhtare to be prosecuted for attempted rape and assault. "I'm an American citizen being assaulted by a State Department employee," said Barker "and nobody cares and nothing's being done about it." Barker's attorney, Stephanie Morris, said the lack of prosecution sends a message to overseas contractors that it is a "free for all." "You are not going to be prosecuted and you are not going to be disciplined by anybody," said Morris. Barker said that even the State Department agent assigned to her case, Lynn Falanga, advised her to sue the US government when Mokhtare was let off the hook. "She called me and my husband from her own home and said that the State Department was covering it up and that I needed to get an attorney and that they were going to let him continue assaulting people," said Barker. Mokhtare denied that he had attempted to rape her, but admitted that he had gone too far with Tracy, and signed a statement to that effect. In the document, Mokhtare states he "admitted that he pulled her vest and shirt" and that he asked Barker, "What do you have behind there?" Despite his admission, Mokhtare, a US citizen, still works at the State Department today.