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| Iraqi prisoners abuse still provokes anti-Americans surge |
| | www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-01 09:39:01 |
By Muhsen
Hussein, Laith Salman
BAGHDAD, May 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The scandals of torturing Iraqi detainees in the notorious prison of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, still provoked Iraqis anger towards the American occupation forces in spite that more than a month has passed since the publishing
of the first photos by the media.
In addition to what had
been published in the foreign media, the Iraqi newspapers are publishing
more testimonies of Iraqis that were recently released from the
prison.
"Humanism has not, and will not, witnessed through
its long history more offensive and ugly scenes than what was published by the
media," said local newspaper Al Itijah Al Akhar.
The
released prisoners recounted a lot about the torturing and insulting operations
though they refrained from talking about the issues of raping and the sexual
harassment.
Ameen Saed Al Shaikh, a newly released prisoner
recalled that an American soldier asked him what he believed in and when he
answered that he believes in Allah, the American soldier kicked him in the
broken leg and ordered him to curse Islam.
"The forms of
torture used in the prison indicated the Americans are aware of the Iraqis and
knew what would hurt their dignity most, as they knew that nothing would torture
the Muslim more than forcing him to curse his religion," commented a writer
Muhamed Al Samak.
"They also knew that nothing would more
humiliating to Iraqis than undressing them naked in front of the other prisoners
and raping them," added Al Samak.
The Americans hit the
Iraqis in the heart and no matter what they do will not erase the traces of
these scandals, only make those who used to support the Americans divert to hate
them.
In Fact, the prisoners abuse still provokes
anti-Americans surge.
Explosions and gunfire rocked the
Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Sunday despite a fragile truce reached last week
between Shiite Muslim militiamen and US troops.
Fierce
clashes broke out at about 9:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) near Najaf's sprawling cemetery
and the 1920 Revolution Square. The two sides traded fire and loud blasts were
heard from US tanks and the militia's rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and
machine guns.
Clashes between Shiite Muslim militiamen loyal
to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and US forces have broken out repeatedly in
the Najaf area since the firebrand clergy offered a truce on Thursday, under
pressures from other Shiite factions in a bid to end fightings in the holy
city.
The US military said on Monday in a statement that one
US soldier died from wounds suffered in a mortar attack near the northern Iraqi
city of Mosul, while another soldier was also killed and two others were injured
when they hit a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.
Earlier on
Monday, a US military spokeswoman noted that two US soldiers were killed Sunday
evening in the Iraqi city of Kufa, where coalition forces have been fighting the
Mehdi Army loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
One US soldier was killed when his patrol came under attack with small arms
fire, and the other was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his tank,
she added.
Over 800 US soldiers have died since the invasion
of Iraq in March last year, according to Pentagon figures, more than 580 have
been killed in action in Iraq.
Ayad Alawi, the newly chosen
prime minister for the interim government, together with UN envoy Al Akhdhar Al
Ibrahimi and US civil governor in Iraq Paul Bremer, has been busy in choosing
his team, which is a complex process that the three face difficulties of
balancing among different sects, trends, parties and clans, which all want a
share.
The interim government will rule Iraq until
nationwide elections in January 2005.
However, the Iraqis
are sceptical about real sovereignty to be handed over from the US-led coalition
on June 30.
Dr. Huda Al Nuamy, an Iraqi well-known political
analyst and a professor in political sciences department in the University of
Baghdad, told Xinhua Sunday that "what is said about a future interim national
government that would last for 7 months in power, would not be fully sovereign
one as long as the occupation stays and the security and oil dossiers are in the
hands of the Americans."
About the insistence of the Americans to keep their troops in Iraq even after the handover of power, she said that the US has an international agenda and universal interests all over the world,and the strategic situation of this country in the heart of the world makes it essential to the American interests. Enditem |
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