Two British pilgrims were assassinated and an peace activist was kidnapped in Iraq this weekend as the country descended into further chaos. The shooting occurred near Dora near Baghdad as the pilgrims travelled to a Shi’te mosque. The pilgrims had travelled from Northolt in London against all advice from the Foreign Office [BBC]. Meanwhile, following the kidnapping of the 74 year old activist Norman Kember, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was a “worrying time” for the family. Two Canadians and an American were also reported kidnapped in the incident which occurred in Baghdad on Saturday. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq throughout the last year. [BBC]
Saddam Hussein today returned to court and faced some testimony against him for the first time [BBC]. One incident concerns the killing of many civilians in Dujail in 1982 and in which exclusive Cnannel 4 News footage was shown to the court. But with assassinations and shootings of defence lawyers and further delays to the proceedings, many Iraqis are becoming impatient and have demanded a swift trial and execution of their former leader. The case has now been adjourned until December 5th.
As one former dictator is tried over running a brutal regime, there emerges further accusations that ‘torture by the state’ is worse in Iraq now than under Saddam Hussein. Iyad Allawi, Iraq’s former interim prime-minister, speaking to a British newspaper claimed there were widespread cases of brutality being committed by Iraqi authorities [BBC]. In the Observer, Allawi said, “'People are doing the same as [in] Saddam's time and worse…It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things.”
“We are hearing about secret police, secret bunkers where people are being interrogated,' Allawi added. 'A lot of Iraqis are being tortured or killed in the course of interrogations. We are even witnessing Sharia courts based on Islamic law that are trying people and executing them.” Jalal Talbani, Iraq’s current prime-minister, dismissed the claims saying they were “nonsense” [BBC].
The fallout from the Iraq war and the War on Terror continues to affect Britain’s domestic affairs. Further criticism of the Metropolitan Police came today as Sir Ian Blair faced claims over lying to family and the public over the shooting of an unarmed man at Stockwell Station in July. Charles de Menezes was shot on July 22nd by armed police who suspected he was a suicide bomber. The Metropolitan Police Service is accused of being slow in providing the family with information and did not publicly correct incorrect information which was circulating in the media. The MET say they “welcomed” an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission [BBC].
[19:51 GMT 28/11/2005]
No comments:
Post a Comment