NEWS > 22 February 2007

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Concord Monitor - Concord,NH,U
22 February 2007

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U.S. to investigate police rap

The U.S. military yesterday weighed into the politically explosive case of a Sunni woman allegedly raped last weekend by three Iraqi policemen, announcing its own investigation after the Shiite-run government dismissed her allegations as false.

The announcement, made to reporters by the chief military spokesman, appeared aimed at containing the growing political storm. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's exoneration of the three officers after an investigation lasting less than a day has inflamed Sunni-Shiite tensions over a case that strikes at the heart of Iraqi attitudes toward protection of women.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, stoked the political flames further yesterday by firing a top Sunni official who called for an international investigation into the woman's allegations, which were broadcast Monday by satellite television stations across the Middle East.

Rape is considered not only an assault on the victim but a grave offense against her entire family and community.

Al-Maliki insists the charge was fabricated by Sunni politicians and extremists to discredit the police and the ongoing security crackdown in Baghdad. He announced a "reward" for the officers who were implicated.

Regardless of the truth, many Sunnis considered the government's speed in clearing the policemen as an insult to their community. Al-Maliki announced an investigation Monday evening and cleared the officers the following morning.
With the issue threatening to spiral out of control, the U.S. military announced yesterday that Gen. David Petraeus, the new top U.S. commander in Iraq, had ordered his own investigation, appointing an American officer to begin collecting evidence.

"Once the Iraqi government makes a decision on how they are going to move forward, there is an investigating judicial process established and they need this information from us, we will make that readily available to them," chief military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.

The 20-year-old woman told Arabic language television stations that she was detained Sunday by Iraqi police at her west Baghdad home and accused of aiding Sunni insurgents.

She was then taken to a police garrison where she was raped by the three policemen before American soldiers arrived and took her away, she said.

Caldwell confirmed that "an Iraqi woman" was brought to the U.S.-run hospital Sunday evening and released the following morning but refused to give further details or talk about her treatment.

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Article sourced from

Concord Monitor - Concord,NH,U22 February 2007

U.S. to investigate police rap

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Concord Monitor - Concord,NH,U
22 February 2007