Irak 9

Het Franse persbureau AFP geeft het volgende bijschrift bij deze foto: 'An Iraqi policeman gestures using his AK-47 machinegun as he guards bodies of nine bricklayers outside the morgue of a local hospital in Baghdad 11 July 2005. The men, detained by security forces on suspicion of involvement with Iraqi insurgents suffocated to death while held for over 14 hours in a police van, an interior ministry official said. Three other suspects, who survived the ordeal of being locked up in the metallic van in the burning sun, were taken to hospital where they were to be interviewed by authorities who are investigating the case, the official said.' Het martelen van Soennitische gevangenen door Sjiietische bewakers is het onvermijdelijke gevolg van de chaos in Irak, die is ontstaan na de Amerikaanse inval. Het onafhankelijke Common Dreams heeft het volgende artikel uit Christian Science Monitor overgenomen: 'US-Shiite Struggle Could Spin Out of Control. The George W. Bush administration has embarked on a new effort to pressure Iraq's militant Shiite party leaders to give up their control over internal security affairs that could lead the Shiites to reconsider their reliance on U.S. troops. WASHINGTON - The George W. Bush administration has embarked on a new effort to pressure Iraq's militant Shiite party leaders to give up their control over internal security affairs that could lead the Shiites to reconsider their reliance on U.S. troops. The looming confrontation is the result of U.S. concerns about the takeover of the Interior Ministry by Shiites with close ties to Iran, as well as the impact of officially sanctioned sectarian violence against Sunnis who support the insurgency. The Shiite leaders, however, appear determined to hold onto the state's organs of repression as a guarantee against restoration of a Baathist regime. The new turn in U.S. policy came in mid-November, when the administration decided to confront Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari publicly over the torture houses being run by Shiite officials in the Ministry of Interior at various locations in Baghdad. The decision was not the result of a new revelation, because the U.S military command and U.S. Embassy had known about such torture houses for months, from reporting by U.S. military officers. U.S. Army doctor Maj. R. John Stukey told the Christian Science Monitor that he and U.S. military police had visited Interior Ministry detention facilities and had reported evidence of torture and other mistreatment at those facilities up through the chain of command before he left Baghdad in June. Washington had nevertheless remained silent about the issue. However, the U.S. military raided an Interior Ministry's detention centre in the Baghdad suburb of Jadriya on Nov. 13, whereupon the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Command issued an unusual joint statement calling the torture centre "totally unacceptable". The embassy then used the torture house revelation to issue a public demand that the militant Shiite parties give up their power over the key state security organs. On Nov. 17, the embassy said, "There must not be militia or sectarian control or direction of Iraqi Security Forces, facilities or ministries." Shiite leaders viewed these U.S. moves as part of an effort to reduce the majority controlled by the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) in the parliament and to increase the vote for former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and former Baathist who has been a long-time collaborator with the Central Intelligence Agency.' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1227-08.htm Of:
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