Monday, March 05, 2007
In execution tape, Islamic State of Iraq threatens worse attacks
Insurgents, Security
(SITE) Iraq, issued to jihadist forums on Saturday, March 3, 2007, the execution video of the eighteen captured employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. The Islamic State had announced the capture of these individuals on Thursday, March 1, claiming it to be primarily in response to the rape accusations of a Sunni woman, Sabrin al-Janabi, towards Shi’ite security forces. In that prior message, two demands were made of the Iraqi government to secure the release of these men within a 24-hour period. The following day, the group issued a second statement, announcing that due to the refusal of the Iraqi government to negotiate for the release, instead being “arrogant”, the Shari’a Courts of the Islamic State of Iraq ordered the execution of Allah’s Orders on the captured employees.
The video opens with footage of the men blindfolded and sitting in rows, and a message is shown on-screen that is also dictated. Its words are similar to those of the two prior statements, but add that the Mujahideen rose to action after the appeal of the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, which he presented in an audio message addressing Sabrin. They add: “This operation is only a drop in the bucket, and what will come is more wicked and bitter, with the permission of Allah the Almighty.”
Following the message, a number of the captured men, blindfolded and bound, are shown shot repeatedly with pistols by the masked Mujahideen. Also, the Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement today indicating that fourteen other employees of the Ministry of Interior were captured on Thursday, March 1, and “Allah’s Orders” were also executed upon them.
The video opens with footage of the men blindfolded and sitting in rows, and a message is shown on-screen that is also dictated. Its words are similar to those of the two prior statements, but add that the Mujahideen rose to action after the appeal of the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, which he presented in an audio message addressing Sabrin. They add: “This operation is only a drop in the bucket, and what will come is more wicked and bitter, with the permission of Allah the Almighty.”
Following the message, a number of the captured men, blindfolded and bound, are shown shot repeatedly with pistols by the masked Mujahideen. Also, the Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement today indicating that fourteen other employees of the Ministry of Interior were captured on Thursday, March 1, and “Allah’s Orders” were also executed upon them.
Labels: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, execution video, Interior Ministry forces, Islamic State of Iraq, Mujahideen, rape, Sabrin al-Janabi
Friday, February 23, 2007
Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader vows retaliation after Sunni women rape allegations
Insurgency
(Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda's wing in Iraq vowed militants would avenge a Sunni woman who said she had been raped by members of Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated police, according to an audio tape posted on the Internet on Thursday. "More than 300 militants asked to go on martyrdom (suicide) operations in the first 10 hours of hearing the news," said the speaker on the tape identified as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
It was the first recording purported to be from Masri since some Iraqi officials said he had been wounded in a clash last week. The U.S. military said it had no indication he had been hurt. Charges by a Sunni woman in Baghdad that she had been raped by the policemen have set off a political furor in Iraq and highlighted the growing friction between the two sects. A second woman has accused soldiers of attacking her in her home in northern Iraq.
"(Government leaders) have cheated the nation and committed so much treason that honor is being violated in the name of politics," said the speaker. The authenticity of the 12-minute recording, entitled "To your rescue, sister" could not be verified but it was posted on a Web site often used by Islamists.
A group called Islamic State in Iraq, which includes Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and several minor insurgent groups, earlier vowed an "earth-shaking response" to the alleged rapes. The group is blamed for some of the worst bombings in Iraq. The mayor of the northern city of Tal Afar said an army officer and three soldiers had been detained in connection with the second rape case. Masri, an Egyptian, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006.
It was the first recording purported to be from Masri since some Iraqi officials said he had been wounded in a clash last week. The U.S. military said it had no indication he had been hurt. Charges by a Sunni woman in Baghdad that she had been raped by the policemen have set off a political furor in Iraq and highlighted the growing friction between the two sects. A second woman has accused soldiers of attacking her in her home in northern Iraq.
"(Government leaders) have cheated the nation and committed so much treason that honor is being violated in the name of politics," said the speaker. The authenticity of the 12-minute recording, entitled "To your rescue, sister" could not be verified but it was posted on a Web site often used by Islamists.
A group called Islamic State in Iraq, which includes Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and several minor insurgent groups, earlier vowed an "earth-shaking response" to the alleged rapes. The group is blamed for some of the worst bombings in Iraq. The mayor of the northern city of Tal Afar said an army officer and three soldiers had been detained in connection with the second rape case. Masri, an Egyptian, assumed the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq after Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike in June 2006.
Labels: Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Islamic State of Iraq, rape, video tape
Rape allegations widen political sectarian rift
Politics, Security
(CNN) Allegations that a Sunni woman was raped by Shiite police officers, and the Iraqi government's response has strained the already frayed relations between followers of the Muslim sects. The woman appeared Monday on Al-Jazeera alleging she was raped Sunday by three members of the security forces. She said the rape occurred at a police facility after she was seized in a Baghdad raid, allegedly for helping Sunni insurgents.
She didn't identify the attackers as Shiites. But there is an assumption that they were, because Shiites are predominant in the police force. Many Sunnis regard infiltration by Shiite death squad and militia members in the police force as widespread. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government said Monday that the allegations were investigated and that "medical examinations [show] that the woman has not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever."
His office released what it said was a copy of the findings of the medical examination. The report, in English from Ibn Sina Hospital, the U.S.-run medical facility in the Green Zone, said there were "no vaginal lacerations or obvious injury." A U.S. military spokesman confirmed only that the woman was admitted to a medical facility on Sunday and released the next day. The U.S. military said it is gathering information about the incident, which has sparked "great concern."
She didn't identify the attackers as Shiites. But there is an assumption that they were, because Shiites are predominant in the police force. Many Sunnis regard infiltration by Shiite death squad and militia members in the police force as widespread. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government said Monday that the allegations were investigated and that "medical examinations [show] that the woman has not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever."
His office released what it said was a copy of the findings of the medical examination. The report, in English from Ibn Sina Hospital, the U.S.-run medical facility in the Green Zone, said there were "no vaginal lacerations or obvious injury." A U.S. military spokesman confirmed only that the woman was admitted to a medical facility on Sunday and released the next day. The U.S. military said it is gathering information about the incident, which has sparked "great concern."
News of the incident reverberated throughout Iraq, spurring outrage from the villages and city neighborhoods. There is also concern in the halls of Iraqi power, where Sunni and Shiites are bickering over how the case is being handled.
The Shiite-dominated government says the "fabricated" story is serving to undermine a security effort -- called Operation Enforcing the Law -- to target insurgents regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation. Al-Maliki said three warrants have been filed against the woman, but he didn't disclose the charges. He also said that because the rape claims had been made up, he has ordered that the accused officers be rewarded.
Baghdad security plan spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta said the woman, from western Baghdad, is identified as a freedom fighter by some members of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Sunni political movement. He said that police officers found the clothes of a slain kidnap victim in the woman's house. Although she lived alone, the woman had been seen preparing food for about 10 people at least twice, supporting accusations that she was cooking for insurgents, Atta said. Police also found a passage leading to a neighboring house with a small infirmary and large amounts of medicine, he said.
The Shiite-dominated government says the "fabricated" story is serving to undermine a security effort -- called Operation Enforcing the Law -- to target insurgents regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation. Al-Maliki said three warrants have been filed against the woman, but he didn't disclose the charges. He also said that because the rape claims had been made up, he has ordered that the accused officers be rewarded.
Baghdad security plan spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta said the woman, from western Baghdad, is identified as a freedom fighter by some members of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Sunni political movement. He said that police officers found the clothes of a slain kidnap victim in the woman's house. Although she lived alone, the woman had been seen preparing food for about 10 people at least twice, supporting accusations that she was cooking for insurgents, Atta said. Police also found a passage leading to a neighboring house with a small infirmary and large amounts of medicine, he said.
One leading Sunni -- Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, who heads a group that takes care of Sunni mosques and shrines -- was dismissed from his government post by al-Maliki, who gave no reason. News reports say al-Samaraie was let go after he joined a chorus of Sunnis asking for an international investigation.
The Iraqi Islamic Party and other Sunni groups condemned what they say was a rape and the subsequent investigation. The Muslim Scholars Association also condemned what it said was an attack by the police force. The story is prominent on many Sunni-oriented Web sites, which refer to the incident as a crime. The Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group, said in a written statement that it has declared a state of emergency and its operations will now focus on the Iraqi government "and its so-called" security forces. Discussion of rape is taboo in Arab and Muslim society, making the woman's comments on TV shocking.
The Iraqi Islamic Party and other Sunni groups condemned what they say was a rape and the subsequent investigation. The Muslim Scholars Association also condemned what it said was an attack by the police force. The story is prominent on many Sunni-oriented Web sites, which refer to the incident as a crime. The Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group, said in a written statement that it has declared a state of emergency and its operations will now focus on the Iraqi government "and its so-called" security forces. Discussion of rape is taboo in Arab and Muslim society, making the woman's comments on TV shocking.
Labels: al-Maliki, al-Samaraie, Gen. Qassim Atta, Iraqi Islamic Party, Muslim Scholars Association, rape
Islamic State of Iraq to step up attacks in retaliation for rape of Sunni women
Insurgency
(SITE) In a statement issued on Wednesday, the office of the Emir of the Believers, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, addressed the recent allegations by Sunni women in Baghdad and Tal Afar that Shi’ite police officers had raped them. The group argues that as Sunnis are helpless to rely on Sunni politicians in the “mockery government”, it is the role of the Mujahideen to respond with physically to these attacks. Baghdadi instructs the Mujahideen of the Islamic State to step up operations against the “Crusaders” and Shi’ites, and states: “You will see the cataclysmic response with the help of Allah Almighty, and what you saw of the blessed operations in the last days - which shook the security plan - are only the beginning, with the help of Allah.”
Labels: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Islamic State of Iraq, Mujahideen, rape
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Row over rape leads to further sectarian political tensions
Security, Politics
(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. The rape allegation surfaced on 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.
"One of them hit me. I fell and my head hit the ground," the alleged victim -- the report described her as a 20-year-old married woman -- said in the television interview, speaking from behind a traditional Islamic veil. "One of them raped me. Then another came and raped, and a third. I was screaming, crying and begging them, but he held my mouth so no-one could hear," she continued, calmly but with eyes moist with tears. "Someone came and said to them, 'Are you done? Can we come and take our turn?' But one of them said, 'No, there's an American patrol coming'."
The woman said she was brought before a judge to be arraigned, then taken back by police, raped again, beaten on the thigh with a rubber hose and threatened that she would be killed if she made a complaint.
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. "The aim of this fabrication by some known groups is to sow confusion about the security plan and tarnish the reputation of our forces which are tracking terrorist organisations and working to stabilize Baghdad," it said.
The rape row strikes a blow against Maliki's attempts to portray the security plan as even handed, after a series of bomb attacks on Shiite targets undermined early successes in cutting the murder rate. Omar Jaburi, Vice President Tareq al Hashemi's adviser on human rights, said he had been put in charge of the dossier and denounced the statement by Maliki's office as "false" and an attempt to mislead the media.
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, Jaburi told AFP. "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."
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. The rape allegation surfaced on 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.
"One of them hit me. I fell and my head hit the ground," the alleged victim -- the report described her as a 20-year-old married woman -- said in the television interview, speaking from behind a traditional Islamic veil. "One of them raped me. Then another came and raped, and a third. I was screaming, crying and begging them, but he held my mouth so no-one could hear," she continued, calmly but with eyes moist with tears. "Someone came and said to them, 'Are you done? Can we come and take our turn?' But one of them said, 'No, there's an American patrol coming'."
The woman said she was brought before a judge to be arraigned, then taken back by police, raped again, beaten on the thigh with a rubber hose and threatened that she would be killed if she made a complaint.
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. "The aim of this fabrication by some known groups is to sow confusion about the security plan and tarnish the reputation of our forces which are tracking terrorist organisations and working to stabilize Baghdad," it said.
The rape row strikes a blow against Maliki's attempts to portray the security plan as even handed, after a series of bomb attacks on Shiite targets undermined early successes in cutting the murder rate. Omar Jaburi, Vice President Tareq al Hashemi's adviser on human rights, said he had been put in charge of the dossier and denounced the statement by Maliki's office as "false" and an attempt to mislead the media.
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, Jaburi told AFP. "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."
Labels: al-Maliki, rape, Sabrin al-Janabi
