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US Training of Death Squads in Iraq? - War Is A Crime .org

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http://www.agrnews.<strong>org</strong>/?section=archives&cat_id=15&article_id=338<strong>US</strong> troops arrest <strong>Iraq</strong> police death squadBy Simon FreemanAsheville Global ReportNo. 371, February 23 - March 1, 2006Feb. 16- An <strong>in</strong>quiry has been launched <strong>in</strong>to the <strong>in</strong>filtration <strong>of</strong> <strong>Iraq</strong>'s police by militiaforces after a 22-member death squad was caught red-handed at a checkpo<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> Baghdad.Guards stopped the men — all wear<strong>in</strong>g police uniforms — as they tried to cross aroadblock <strong>in</strong> the north <strong>of</strong> the capital. When questioned, they freely admitted they were ontheir way to execute a Sunni Muslim prisoner.Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson, who commands the civilian police tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g teams <strong>in</strong> <strong>Iraq</strong>, toldreporters that the men were employed by the M<strong>in</strong>istry <strong>of</strong> Interior as highway patrol<strong>of</strong>ficers."The amaz<strong>in</strong>g th<strong>in</strong>g is... they tell you exactly what they're go<strong>in</strong>g to do," he said.Four <strong>of</strong> the men are believed to have l<strong>in</strong>ks to the Badr brigades — the armed w<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> theSupreme Council for the <strong>Is</strong>lamic Revolution (SCIRI), one <strong>of</strong> <strong>Iraq</strong>'s ma<strong>in</strong> Shia parties.They are be<strong>in</strong>g held at the <strong>US</strong> detention facility at Abu Ghraib. The others are <strong>in</strong> an <strong>Iraq</strong>ijail. The Sunni man, who is accused <strong>of</strong> murder, is also be<strong>in</strong>g held <strong>in</strong> <strong>Iraq</strong>i custody.Peterson said he believed that there were other sectarian death squads operat<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong>the security forces. "We cont<strong>in</strong>ue to believe that there's more <strong>of</strong> these out there," he said.He said that he was certa<strong>in</strong> that Bayan Jabr, the Interior M<strong>in</strong>ister who is a member <strong>of</strong>SCIRI, had no knowledge <strong>of</strong> the death squads. "They are discredit<strong>in</strong>g him and his<strong>org</strong>anization. He wants to f<strong>in</strong>d these guys. He does not support them," he said.Maj. Gen. Husse<strong>in</strong> Kamal, <strong>Iraq</strong>'s deputy <strong>in</strong>terior m<strong>in</strong>ister, responded to the report byorder<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>vestigation. As the <strong>in</strong>quiry was announced, police discovered the bodies <strong>of</strong>a dozen executed men <strong>in</strong> the predom<strong>in</strong>antly Shia Muslim suburb <strong>of</strong> Shula."We have been <strong>in</strong>formed about this and the <strong>in</strong>terior m<strong>in</strong>ister has formed an <strong>in</strong>vestigationcommittee to learn more about the Sunni person and those 22 men, particularly whetherthey work for the Interior M<strong>in</strong>istry or claim to belong to the m<strong>in</strong>istry," Kamal told theAssociated Press.Allegations <strong>of</strong> death squads target<strong>in</strong>g Sunnis from with<strong>in</strong> the Shia-dom<strong>in</strong>ated ranks <strong>of</strong> thepolice have been circulat<strong>in</strong>g s<strong>in</strong>ce May last year. Bodies <strong>of</strong> Sunnis seized from their126

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