Monday, February 13, 2006

Iraq - abuse claims


It has been a relatively quiet weekend in Iraq with few reports coming froming out of the country. A new leader was finally chosen after the recent elections. The United Iraqi Alliance party leader Ibrahim Al-Jaafari has now been nominated as the new Prime Minister of Iraq.

The Saddam Hussein trial resumed Monday and as the former leader entered the court he shouted, “Down with America, long live Iraq.” The defiant Saddam who had been forced to attend the session spent several minutes berating the judge and America. The court heard from two witnesses throughout the morning. Broadcast of the trial is delayed by 20 minutes. The defence team has now been appointed by the judge after the

The main issue dominating headlines is the release of a tape showing British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners. The tape, believed to have been shot in 2004, was widely reported after the News of the World.co.uk/ led with the story on Sunday. The story was extensively shown on many news stations including Sky News, BBC 24 and CNN. The video was also shown in Iraq on Al-Arabiya where it caused further outrage amongst Iraqis. The MoD described the images as “disturbing” and said the tape would be investigated. Tony Blair said he was also concerned over the allegations of abuse but added that the video should not reflect on the majority of British troops who were doing a good job. Posted by Picasa

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