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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 15th,
2009 - US Commander: US to Stick to Iraq Withdrawal Date |
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US Commander:
US to Stick to Iraq Withdrawal Date From the Associated Press June 15, 2009 Baghdad - The U.S. commander
in Iraq says Americans remain "absolutely committed" to withdrawing
all combat troops from urban areas by the end of the month. Gen. Ray Odierno says a very
limited number of advisers and trainers will remain in the cities to help
Iraqi security forces. But he says combat troops
will pull back to bases outside the cities. Odierno says that includes
the northern city of Mosul, which the U.S. military has called the last urban
stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq. Odierno said Monday at a
joint news conference with Iraqi officials that violence has declined in
Mosul due to recent U.S.-Iraqi military operations. He says he feels "much
more comfortable with the situation in Mosul now." -- Detainees loyal to Shiite
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have begun a hunger strike to protest alleged abuse in
Iraqi prisons, a spokesman said Monday. Complaints about
mistreatment of inmates in Iraqi prisons gained widespread attention last
week when a Sunni lawmaker who was a champion of prisoner rights was killed
after delivering a sermon at a Baghdad mosque. More than 300 detainees from
al-Sadr's movement began a hunger strike Sunday at the Rusafa prison in
eastern Baghdad, spokesman Salah al-Obeidi said. They're hoping to draw
attention to their plight and force Iraqi officials "to find solutions
for their suffering inside the prison," he said. Al-Obeidi said most of the
detainees have been held without charge for at least a year. "Their cases are still
unsettled," he said. "Some officers demand bribes to complete their
cases and release them." Government officials could
not immediately be reached to comment on the hunger strike or the
allegations. The issue has come to the
fore as the United States has begun to turn over control to the Iraqis of
thousands of security detainees in its custody under a new security pact that
would end the U.S. mission in Iraq by 2012. The United Nations has
expressed concern about overcrowding and "grave human rights
violations" of detainees in Iraqi custody. It called for thorough
investigations of reports of mistreatment and torture. Dozens of relatives and
supporters of the inmates staged a protest Monday in front of the Iraqi
army's headquarters where the Rusafa prison is located. Militiamen loyal to al-Sadr
have been blamed in some of the worst sectarian violence and waged fierce
battles with American and Iraqi forces until the anti-U.S. cleric declared a
cease-fire in 2007. Many were rounded up as part of government crackdowns
last spring. Munna al-Saadi said her
husband has been in the prison for seven months without charge. "The army arrested them
because they belong to al-Sadr's movement," she said. "I visited my
husband in the prison many times and he informed me that he and other
detainees are exposed to mistreatment and abuse." Harith al-Obeidi, the head
of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, was slain Friday after delivering a
sermon that raised the issue of prisoner abuse. Colleagues said he had
called on parliament to summon interior and defense ministry officials to
answer the allegations of torture in Iraqi jails. Al-Obeidi was known for
being an outspoken advocate of rights for both Sunni and Shiite prisoners,
including al-Sadr's followers. The Interior Ministry has
blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for his killing, but some Sadrist lawmakers suggested
it may have been retaliation for his campaign on behalf of detainees. In violence Monday, a bomb
attached to a minibus exploded during morning rush hour in a mainly Shiite
area in Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding nine others, a
police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't
authorized to release the information. Associated Press Writers
Hamid Ahmed and Saad Abdul-Kadir contributed to this report. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD98R40A00 |