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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jmhollen who wrote (571994)	5/5/2004 10:19:55 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

2:27am (UK) MPs and Senators Demand Answers over Iraq Abuse Claims By Andrew Woodcock and Emily Pennink, PA News The controversy over allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq was deepening today, despite attempts by George Bush and Tony Blair to repair the damage done to the coalition’s reputation by a string of shocking pictures of alleged mistreatment of detainees. As Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan prepares to be grilled by MPs about the publication of shocking pictures allegedly showing an Iraqi prisoner being abused by British troops, in the United States US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was called to Congress. If Mr Rumsfeld’s testimony tomorrow on US abuse of captives fails to satisfy the Senate Armed Services Committee he could face calls to resign. Democrat Senator Joseph Biden said: “If it goes all the way to Rumsfeld, then he should resign. Who is in charge?” Meanwhile it also emerged that two guards at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had been disciplined over allegations of prisoner abuse. The US military said it was not clear what type of abuse allegedly happened or whether any of the guards were still at Guantanamo, where 600 detainees are being held over alleged links to Afghanistan’s Taliban regime or the al Qaida terror network. Mr Morgan has been called to appear before the influential House of Commons Defence Select Committee amid doubts over the authenticity of the pictures his paper published. In a statement yesterday, the committee said that the allegations of abuse risked putting UK personnel in Iraq in “still greater danger”. They hope to question Mr Morgan at “an early opportunity” to resolve the issue. The editor swiftly confirmed his willingness to give evidence to the committee’s inquiry into continuing UK operations in Iraq. A Daily Mirror spokesman said: “Naturally he is happy to co-operate.” Yesterday, another picture emerged showed an Iraqi man covered in ice and wrapped in cellophane after allegedly being beaten to death at the US-operated Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad. Meanwhile, in an address on Arab television, Mr Bush denounced any abuse as “abhorrent”, but insisted that it did not represent “the America that I know”. And Mr Blair told the House of Commons that the “wholly unacceptable” behaviour depicted in the Mirror should not detract from the good work being done by the majority of British troops in southern Iraq. “That’s what we went to Iraq to get rid of, not to perpetuate,” he told MPs. “The vast bulk of British troops out there would also be horrified if any such incidents had taken place.” At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Blair said that British and American soldiers would remain in Iraq after the handover of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi administration on June 30. He confirmed that discussions were continuing with the US about the possible deployment of additional British troops to areas of Iraq outside the UK-administered south, to make up for the withdrawal of Spain’s 1,300 – strong contingent. Legal action was also launched in London by 12 Iraqi families seeking damages for the alleged killing or torture of loved ones by UK troops. The families’ solicitor, Phil Shiner, lodged an application for judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice. He said they were challenging the Government’s refusal to hold an independent inquiry or offer damages. In a statement, MPs on the Defence Committee said their hearing would give Mr Morgan “a chance to substantiate his newspaper’s allegations.” They added: “It will enable us to satisfy ourselves whether he and his staff have acted responsibly in how they have handled this matter.” The Mirror has staunchly defended its use of the photographs, which appear to show an Iraqi man being beaten, threatened and urinated on by British troops. They were said to have been obtained from two serving soldiers of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, who claimed the victim had his jaw broken and teeth smashed during an eight-hour ordeal, before being dumped from a moving vehicle. The Defence Committee said it was “incumbent” on the Mirror to co-operate fully with a Royal Military Police investigation into the allegations. “If those pictures are genuine, the perpetrators must be identified and dealt with appropriately under the law,” the committee said. “In the meantime, the fact remains that the damaging effects of these allegations, whether they are true or not, will continue to be felt. “They risk placing our service personnel currently serving in Iraq in still greater danger. They risk making the job they are there to do even more difficult. “We do not believe that this is an acceptable situation.” In the Commons, Mr Blair declined to pass judgment on the authenticity of the photos, telling MPs they must wait until the completion of the RMP inquiry. “Of course, allegations of this nature are extremely serious. If they are true, that is completely unacceptable,” he said. “On the other hand, if they are not true that is also extremely serious.” Tory leader Michael Howard said the claims had done “enormous damage” to the reputation of British troops. news.scotsman.com