Rape row splits Iraqi government

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Allegations that Iraqi police enforcing the new Baghdad security plan raped a Sunni woman have sparked a bitter dispute at the highest levels of the state.

In a sign of the deep rifts within Iraq's so-called unity government, the office of the Shiite prime minister dismissed the claim Tuesday, while an aide to the Sunni vice president said it appeared to be true.

~snip~

The rape allegation surfaced Monday when a Sunni religious body accused police of raping a woman called Sabrin al-Janabi, who repeated the charge herself in an interview with the satellite television network Al-Jazeera.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office initially promised a full inquiry then, just four hours later issued a second statement formally denying the allegations and ordering that the accused officers be commended.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070220/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_070220094831

[Benhurst]

1. They're establishing BushAmerican style democracy, aren't they?

Nothing to see here. Move on. Boys will be boys.

[maddezmom]

2. Sunni's claim medical test done done at by US military showed sexual assault

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Allegations that a squad of Iraqi policemen enforcing a new Baghdad security plan took turns to rape a young Sunni woman have fed sectarian tensions at the summit of the Iraqi government.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office dismissed the woman's complaint out of hand Tuesday, and accused Sunni politicians of exploiting the drama to undermine a joint US-Iraqi operation to quell factional fighting in the capital.

But an aide to Iraq's Sunni vice president denounced the Shiite premier's response, and claimed initial medical tests carried out at a hospital run by the American military showed that the woman had been sexually assaulted.

more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/iraq;_ylt=Amt7wS7CGvBvx.JUcGU6wJxX6GMA

[rodeodance]

3. "The initial hospital report confirmed what she had said," Jaburi claimed.

......After she was taken to an Iraqi base, US soldiers arrived and, when she alleged that she had been raped, they transferred her to a hospital overseen by the US military in the fortified Green Zone, he said.

"The initial hospital report confirmed what she had said," Jaburi claimed. "A panel of medical experts is reviewing the evidence, we expect them to report tonight. The hospital is overseen by US forces and is neutral."

A spokesman for the US military, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver, said: "We've seen the reports. I can't confirm anything at this time."

Meanwhile, the latest in a daily series of bomb attacks killed at least 14 people in and around the capital -- with blasts rocking Taji in the northern suburbs and an inner city district.

[youngdem]

4. Damn, and the government unity was going so well

Well, I guess this Shia soldier blew Democrazy for the whole country!

:sarcasm:

[Richard D]

5. It appears she was gang raped.

www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com

[Fovea]

6. Freedom is not only on the march

In fact, it is burning a path before it, much like Gen. Sherman did to Georgia.

If the Iraqis get much freer, they will be able to fly.

[Synnical]

7. RiverBend Blogged about this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=249656&mesg_id=249656

[entanglement]

8. It is shameful and shocking, but the use of rape as a weapon of war

and subjugation has been the rule, not the exception, in the history of our species.