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| Iraq-Jordan | |||
| Funeral held for six Shiite drivers | |||
| 2004-06-16 | |||
| (AP) Dozens of angry Shiites accused Fallujah police Tuesday of handing over Shiite truck drivers to Sunni extremists who slaughtered them after they sought refuge at a police station. Iraqi authorities denied the charge. The allegations were raised at a funeral service in Baghdad’s Firdos Square for six Shiite truck drivers whose bodies were found Monday at a morgue in Ramadi, west of Fallujah. Mourners said the men were delivering a load of tents to the Fallujah Brigade, a force that cooperates with the U.S. military in the restive city 40 miles west of the capital. On their return trip to Baghdad on June 5, the drivers were stopped by armed men who identified themselves as "mujahedeen," fighters who battled Marines to a The six drivers escaped and sought refuge in a police station, the mourners said. However, they were handed over to a hard-line Sunni cleric because they were Shiites, the mourners said. They were killed after the men who were holding them, one of them a Syrian, demanded $3,000 for each driver, the mourners said. Their families could not afford the ransom. Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, described the allegations against the police as "baseless," but confirmed that the killings took place in the Fallujah area. If true, the incident raises new questions about the capability of the Iraqi police to handle security after the handover of sovereignty June 30. A 12-year-old boy, Mohammed Khudeir, said he was among those allegedly handed over by the police. But the cleric and his followers let him go, apparently because of his age. "We tried to seek police protection, but the policemen handed us over," Khudeir said. He said the cleric "handed us over to a group of Arabs who spoke with non-Iraqi accents. I was tortured for a while, but then I was released." Khudeir’s brother and uncle were slain by the insurgents, he said.
"Fallujah clerics and people made a big fuss regarding Abu Ghraib torture, but now they are killing and mutilating Muslims," Mery said, referring to the American abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison. "They are not resistance. They are a copy of Saddam."
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| Posted by:Anonymous4617 |
| #7 and Kurd and Shia territories don't border each other (except for a very small mountainous area). Ah! So! Read Rantburg a year ago for a nice Fallujah (allen's bedroom indeed) piece. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-16 11:06:00 AM |
| #6 when the USMC was pushing into Fallujah, the US was the issue. Now the Fallujah wahabis are the issue - with their internal oppression, their murder of Shiites, etc. Kinda like what happened in Karbala and Najaf - let the baddies hang around till everyone gets sick of them. I think this may be the (default) strategy in Fallujah as well - setting up Fallujah for "handling" by Iraqi forces (NOT the Fallujah thingy) once they are capable enough. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-16 10:20:19 AM |
| #5 Wonder what Sy Hersh would say about a 12 year old being tortured by US troops? And yet, not a peep about this. The article was posted at midnight, and now it's already 7:45 a.m., and still there's not a peep about this from Sy Hersh! . |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-06-16 7:45:29 AM |
| #4 We will see a lot more of this as Iraqification proceeds. The Sunnis will be the big losers. The Kurds out gun them and the Shia out- number them, and Kurd and Shia territories don't border each other (except for a very small mountainous area). |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-06-16 5:47:13 AM |
| #3 Ah, now this sounds like real Arabian stuff: kidnapped innocents and ransom demands, casual sectarian killing, corrupt or incapable police, if we had a little clan on clan violence involved it would be the whole shebang. It also sounds like the fearful tale of a 12 yr old Arab boy. There is no difference between the two, when you think about it. Funny thing is we may now be seeing what the Fallujah Wahhabi Syrians? Not Qom-inspired, eh? Lol - wotta whole regions of 'tards and losers. Mebbe the wonderful General Latif should be given 48 hrs to deliver the killers in cuffs - or be dismissed as yet another lamer. If he fails, recall the Marines camped out in their loose cordon around the city, march the Fallujah Brigade back into the city, since a fair portion came from the jihadis that were allowed to live, issue an ultimatum that contains all of your heart's desires (the killers, all weaponry and ammo, a pony, etc) and give the city 48 hrs to deliver the lot. If they don't, reduce Fallujah to the rubble it should have become back in March-April of 2003. Ramadi - rinse, repeat. What was that "wedding party" village where the Syrians were being pipelined into Iraq? Al Qa'im? Rinse, repeat. I believe that the Sunni Triangle will be a sore spot forever, of exactly this sort of thuggery and sectarian BS, until pacified by brute force. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-16 4:53:17 AM |
| #2 Let's see...if a Muslim slaughters 5 innocent Muslims that's Okie-Dokie? The That makes perfect sense to me. No wonder the Middle East is a cesspool and Islam is bankrupt. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2004-06-16 1:42:41 AM |
| #1 Kill'n muslims ya say? Bring on an Islamic court and we'll get to the bottom of this. Prepare the stones Abu! Falluja, allah's bedroom. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-06-16 1:11:11 AM |