The French fighters were detained by a U.S. patrol during fighting in the city of Fallujah last November, Ladsous explained.

Iraq's human rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, confirmed the detentions during an interview last week on France's Europe One Radio.

"Two of them have admitted they came to make jihad against the Americans. ... They will be tried in Iraq," Amin said. "They are criminals and we are here to see justice is done."

The Iraqi official said also that he believed there were up to a dozen French citizens fighting U.S. forces in his country.

U.S. military sources in Iraq told Reuters that the three French fighters are currently being detained at Iraq's Camp Bucca.

A Paris-based Islamic network is suspected of having recruited them to fight in Iraq.

Editor's note: