Mounting pressure on the US

2004-05-02 22:06

Baghdad - The US-led coalition faced mounting pressure on Sunday to allow an independent inquiry into allegations of widespread prisoner abuse in Iraq as 11 more US troops and three Iraqis died in fresh fighting.

Meanwhile, United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan said a UN-sanctioned multinational force will help maintain security in Iraq after the US military hands limited sovereignty back to the country on June 30.

London's Sunday Telegraph said up to 4 000 British troops are to be sent to take control of the Shiite holy city of Najaf, currently under siege by US forces, in the largest expansion of British forces in Iraq over the past year.

Eleven US soldiers were killed in combat in less than 24 hours, military sources said.

Two died in an ambush in the southern city of Amara, two in Baghdad, one in an attack on a base near the northern city of Kirkuk, and six when another base was mortared west of Baghdad.

Three Iraqis were killed and eight wounded in clashes between Shiite militiamen and British troops in Amara, a hospital source said.

More than 750 US troops have died since the United States and its allies invaded Iraq in March 2003, according to a tally based on Pentagon figures.

More than 10 000 Iraqis are also estimated to have been killed.

The images

But it was the graphic pictures of the abuse of prisoners by troops in the US and British media that continued to shock the world and undermine coalition claims that it was "winning the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people.

The images depicted prisoners of US forces, some naked, in humiliating, sexually suggestive poses, with military personnel pointing and laughing at them.

British tabloid the Daily Mirror followed up with photographs of British troops apparently abusing an Iraqi prisoner.

The British press exploded at the Mirror's photos, and though the BBC said their authenticity had been questioned, the daily's editor Piers Morgan stood by the story and hinted at more revelations.

Six US military police, including Reserve Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, in charge of US-run prisons in Iraq, were charged in March with offences relating to the abuse of up to 20 prisoners.

A senior military spokesperson said US probes were leading to "other areas" outside the limited scope of prisoner interrogation procedures.

- AFP