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<font size=3><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=6><b>Allawi shot
prisoners in cold blood: witnesses<br><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>[A new thug for Iraq,
hand-picked by the
Americans!]</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>By
Paul McGeough in Baghdad<br>
Sidney Morning Herald<br>
July 17, 2004<br>
</b></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=2><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/16/1089694568757.html?oneclick=true">http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/16/1089694568757.html?oneclick=true</a><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b> <br><br>
Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed
as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just
days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim
government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the
killings. <br><br>
<br><br>
They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up
against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum-security cell block
in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre, in the
city</font>'s south-western suburbs. <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as
50 Iraqis and they "deserved worse than death".<br><br>
<br><br>
The Prime Minister</font>'s office has denied the entirety of the witness
accounts in a written statement to the <i>Herald</i>, saying Dr Allawi
had never visited the centre and he did not carry a gun.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
But the informants told the <i>Herald</i> that Dr Allawi shot each young
man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from
the Prime Minister</font>'s personal security team watched in stunned
silence.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
Iraq</font>'s Interior Minister, Falah al-Naqib, is said to have looked
on and congratulated him when the job was done. Mr al-Naqib's office has
issued a verbal denial. <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
The names of three of the alleged victims have been obtained by the
<i>Herald</i>.<br><br>
<br><br>
One of the witnesses claimed that before killing the prisoners Dr Allawi
had told those around him that he wanted to send a clear message to the
police on how to deal with insurgents.<br><br>
<br><br>
"The prisoners were against the wall and we were standing in the
courtyard when the Interior Minister said that he would like to kill them
all on the spot. Allawi said that they deserved worse than death - but
then he pulled the pistol from his belt and started shooting
them."<br><br>
<br><br>
Re-enacting the killings, one witness stood three to four metres in front
of a wall and swung his outstretched arm in an even arc, left to right,
jerking his wrist to mimic the recoil as each bullet was fired. Then he
raised a hand to his brow, saying: "He was very close. Each was shot
in the head." <br><br>
<br>
The prisoners were against the wall and we were standing in the courtyard
when the Interior Minister said that he would like to kill them all on
the spot. Allawi said that they deserved worse than death - but then he
pulled the pistol from his belt and started shooting them.<br>
<br><br>
The witnesses said seven prisoners had been brought out to the courtyard,
but the last man in the line was only wounded - in the neck, said one
witness; in the chest, said the other.<br><br>
<br><br>
Given Dr Allawi</font>'s role as the leader of the US experiment in
planting a model democracy in the Middle East, allegations of a return to
the cold-blooded tactics of his predecessor are likely to stir a
simmering debate on how well Washington knows its man in Baghdad, and
precisely what he envisages for the new Iraq.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
There is much debate and rumour in Baghdad about the Prime
Minister</font>'s capacity for brutality, but this is the first time
eyewitness accounts have been obtained.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
A former CIA officer, </font>Vincent Cannisatraro, recently told <i>The
New Yorker</i>: "If you're asking me if Allawi has blood on his
hands from his days in London, the answer is yes, he does. He was a paid
Mukhabarat [intelligence] agent for the Iraqis, and he was involved in
dirty stuff."<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
In Baghdad, varying accounts of the shootings are interpreted by
observers as useful to a little-known politician who, after 33 years in
exile, needs to prove his leadership credentials as a
"strongman" in a war-ravaged country that has no experience of
democracy.<br><br>
<br><br>
Dr Allawi</font>'s statement dismissed the allegations as rumours
instigated by enemies of his interim government.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
But in a sharp reminder of the Iraqi hunger for security above all else,
the witnesses did not perceive themselves as whistle-blowers. In
interviews with the <i>Herald </i>they were enthusiastic about such
killings, with one of them arguing: "These criminals were
terrorists. They are the ones who plant the bombs."<br><br>
<br><br>
Before the shootings, the 58-year-old Prime Minister is said to have told
the policemen they must have courage in their work and that he would
shield them from any repercussions if they killed insurgents in the
course of their duty.<br><br>
<br><br>
The witnesses said the Iraqi police observers were "shocked and
surprised". But asked what message they might take from such an act,
one said: "Any terrorists in Iraq should have the same destiny. This
is the new Iraq.<br><br>
<br><br>
"Allawi wanted to send a message to his policemen and soldiers not
to be scared if they kill anyone - especially, they are not to worry
about tribal revenge. He said there would be an order from him and the
Interior Ministry that all would be fully protected.<br><br>
<br><br>
"He told them: </font>'We must destroy anyone who wants to destroy
Iraq and kill our people.'<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
"At first they were surprised. I was scared - but now the police
seem to be very happy about this. There was no anger at all, because so
many policemen have been killed by these criminals."<br><br>
<br><br>
Dr Allawi had made a surprise visit to the complex, they said.<br><br>
<br><br>
Neither witness could give a specific date for the killings. But their
accounts narrowed the time frame to on or around the third weekend in
June - about a week before the rushed handover of power in Iraq and more
than three weeks after Dr Allawi was named as the interim Prime
Minister.<br><br>
<br><br>
They said that as many as five of the dead prisoners were Iraqis, two of
whom came from </font>Samarra, a volatile town to the north of the
capital, where an attack by insurgents on the home of Mr Al-Naqib killed
four of the Interior Minister's bodyguards on June 19.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
The <i>Herald</i> has established the names of three of the prisoners
alleged to have been killed. Two names connote ties to Syrian-based Arab
tribes, suggesting they were foreign fighters: Ahmed Abdulah Ahsamey and
Amer Lutfi Mohammed Ahmed al-Kutsia.<br><br>
<br><br>
The third was Walid Mehdi Ahmed al-</font>Samarrai. The last word of his
name indicates that he was one of the two said to come from Samarra,
which is in the Sunni Triangle.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
The three names were provided to the Interior Ministry, where senior
adviser Sabah Khadum undertook to provide a status report on each. He was
asked if they were prisoners, were they alive or had they died in
custody. <br><br>
<br><br>
But the next day he cut short an interview by hanging up the phone,
saying only: "I have no information - I don</font>'t want to comment
on that specific matter."<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
All seven were described as young men. One of the witnesses spoke of the
distinctive appearance of four as "Wahabbi", the colloquial
Iraqi term for the foreign fundamentalist insurgency fighters and their
Iraqi followers.<br><br>
<br><br>
He said: "The Wahabbis had long beards, very short hair and they
were wearing dishdashas [the caftan-like garment worn by Iraqi
men]."<br><br>
<br><br>
Raising the hem of his own dishdasha to reveal the cotton pantaloons
usually worn beneath, he said: "The other three were just wearing
these - they looked normal."<br><br>
<br><br>
One witness justified the shootings as an unintended act of mercy:
"They were happy to die because they had already been beaten by the
police for two to eight hours a day to make them talk."<br><br>
<br><br>
After the removal of the bodies, the officer in charge of the complex,
General Raad Abdullah, is said to have called a meeting of the policemen
and told them not to talk outside the station about what had happened.
"He said it was a security issue," a witness said.<br><br>
<br><br>
One of the Al-Amariyah witnesses said he watched as Iraqis among the
Prime Minister</font>'s bodyguards piled the prisoners' bodies into the
back of a Nissan utility and drove off. He did not know what became of
them. But the other witness said the bodies were buried west of Baghdad,
in open desert country near Abu Ghraib.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
That would place their burial near the notorious prison, which was used
by Saddam Hussein</font>'s security forces to torture and kill thousands
of Iraqis. Subsequently it was revealed as the setting for the
still-unfolding prisoner abuse scandal involving US troops in the
aftermath of the fall of Baghdad.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
The <i>Herald</i> has established that as many as 30 people, including
the victims, may have been in the courtyard. One of the witnesses said
there were five or six civilian-clad American security men in a convoy of
five or six late model four-wheel-drive vehicles that was shepherding Dr
Allawi</font>'s entourage on the day. The US military and Dr Allawi's
office refused to respond to questions about the composition of his
security team. It is understood that the core of his protection unit is
drawn from the US Special Forces units.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
The security establishment where the killings are said to have happened
is on open ground on the border of the Al-Amariyah and Al-Kudra
neighbourhoods in Baghdad.<br><br>
<br><br>
About 90 policemen are stationed at the complex, which processes
insurgents and more hardened offenders among those captured in the
struggle against a wave of murder, robbery and kidnapping in
post-invasion Iraq.<br><br>
<br><br>
The Interior Ministry denied permission for the <i>Herald</i> to enter
the heavily fortified police complex.<br><br>
<br><br>
The two witnesses were independently and separately found by the
<i>Herald</i>. Neither approached the newspaper. They were interviewed on
different days in a private home in Baghdad, without being told the other
had spoken. A condition of the co-operation of each man was that no
personal information would be published.<br><br>
<br><br>
Both interviews lasted more than 90 minutes and were conducted through an
interpreter, with another journalist present for one of the meetings. The
witnesses were not paid for the interviews.<br><br>
<br><br>
Dr Allawi</font>'s office has dismissed the allegations as rumours
instigated by enemies of his interim government.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
A statement in the name of spokesman Taha Hussein read: "We face
these sorts of allegations on a regular basis. Numerous groups are
attempting to hinder what the interim Iraqi government is on the verge of
achieving, and occasionally they spread outrageous accusations hoping
they will be believed and thus harm the honourable reputation of those
who sacrifice so much to protect this glorious country and its now free
and respectable people.<br><br>
<br><br>
"Dr Allawi is turning this country into a free and democratic nation
run by the rule of law; so if your sources are as credible as they say
they are, then they are more than welcome to file a complaint in a court
of law against the Prime Minister."<br><br>
<br><br>
In response to a question asking if Dr Allawi carried a gun, the
statement said: "[He] does not carry a pistol. He is the Prime
Minister of Iraq, not a combatant in need of any
weaponry."<br><br>
<br><br>
Sabah Khadum, a senior adviser to Interior Minister Mr Naqib, whose
portfolio covers police matters, also dismissed the accounts. Rejecting
them as "ludicrous", Mr Khadum said of Dr Allawi: "He is a
doctor and I know him. He was my neighbour in London. He just
doesn</font>'t have it in him. Baghdad is a city of rumours. This is not
worth discussing."<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
Mr Khadum added: "Do you think a man who is Prime Minister is going
to disqualify himself for life like this? This is not a government of
gangsters."<br><br>
<br><br>
Asked if Dr Allawi had visited the Al-Amariyah complex - one of the most
important counter-insurgency centres in Baghdad - Mr Khadum said he could
not reveal the Prime Minister</font>'s movements. But he added: "Dr
Allawi has made many visits to police stations ... he is heading the
offensive."<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
US officials in Iraq have not made an outright denial of the allegations.
An emailed response to questions from the <i>Herald</i> to the US
ambassador, John Negroponte, said: "If we attempted to refute each
[rumour], we would have no time for other business. As far as this
embassy</font>'s press office is concerned, this case is
closed."<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3 color="#000080"> <br>
</b></font><font face="arial" size=2 color="#000080"> <br><br>
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