Iraq rejects report of 1,500 executions

Geneva - Baghdad angrily rejected a UN report yesterday detailing 1,500 political executions in Iraq last year, saying the document…

Geneva - Baghdad angrily rejected a UN report yesterday detailing 1,500 political executions in Iraq last year, saying the document's findings were "baseless".

The report, prepared by the special rapporteur on human rights in Iraq, Mr Max van der Stoel, for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said it was "highly probable" that more than 1,500 "summary, arbitrary or extra-judicial executions for political purposes" had been carried out in Iraq in 1997.The report said ethnic minorities continued to be at particular risk in Iraq.