IRAQ: Sunni Arab politicians demanded an international investigation yesterday into allegations that Shia militias linked to Iraq's interior ministry tortured and abused prisoners in a secret Baghdad bunker.
The underground bunker, part of a fortified building near the ministry's Baghdad compound, was discovered by US troops during a search on Sunday night in a development likely to fuel sectarian tensions ahead of December 15th parliamentary elections.
Sunni insurgents were already expected to increase their attacks on US and Iraqi forces in the run- up to those elections. Six US soldiers died yesterday.
Inside the bunker troops found 173 malnourished and, in some cases, badly beaten men and teenagers, some of whom showed signs of having been tortured, said the prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, on Tuesday, as he ordered an investigation.
A Shia militia suspected of involvement denied any ties to the facility, saying it was being blamed in an effort to discredit Shias before elections.
The detainees' discovery was a major embarrassment for the US-backed government, which had promised to deliver human rights after decades of dictatorship under Saddam Hussein.
Sunni politician Omar Hujail, of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said it was not the only place where Sunni Arabs were held and tortured. "We have been telling them for ages that there are people wearing the uniforms of the interior ministry raiding houses at night and arresting people, but everybody denied it."
"We urge the United Nations and human rights organisations to denounce these violations and we call on them to conduct a fair international investigation," he said.
In New York the UN said the secretary general, Kofi Annan, was deeply concerned to learn of the abuse of detainees and welcomed Mr Jaafari's decision to open an investigation. "The secretary general also welcomes the prime minister's statement that such practices are completely contrary to Iraqi government policy," a spokeswoman said.
"The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concern about ongoing human rights violations in Iraq, and specifically the lack of due process for detainees and abuses against them."
US director of national intelligence John Negroponte - under pressure over reports that the CIA ran a secret prison system in eastern Europe - visited Baghdad yesterday, but no details of his meeting with Mr Jaafari were given.
Maj Gen William Webster said US forces would help Iraq investigate the abuse. "We intend to co-ordinate with the Iraqis and inspect any detention facility we find out about."
Hadi al-Amery, who heads the Badr Organisation, a militia group tightly allied to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a powerful Shia Muslim political party in government, denied any link to the bunker.
"This bunker is run by the interior ministry, the Americans are there every day," he said. "If there was torture, we ask for an investigation." The Badr Organisation, formerly known as the Badr Brigade, was formed in exile in Iran during the 1980s as the armed wing of SCIRI, which fought against Saddam from exile.
Many Iraqis, particularly members of the Sunni Arab minority, accuse Badr and other militias linked to the government of infiltrating the police and security services. Mohammad Duham, head of a group that works to protect detainees and political prisoners, said his organisation had recorded testimony from many prisoners who were abused in the bunker and at other facilities over the past two years.
"This is even worse than what was happening before (under Saddam)," Duham said. "A lot of torture implements were found in the bunker, like saws to cut people's limbs and also razors to peel the skin off people's bodies." - (Reuters)