New abuse images disgust Iraqis
2006-02-16 13:31
Baghdad - Iraqis expressed outrage on Thursday after new revelations of prisoner abuse at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, warning the images would further inflame already intense anti-Western sentiment.
For many Iraqis the new pictures, which date back to the 2003 prison abuse scandal, drove home for them wrongs of the occupation in their country.
"I felt disgusted when I saw those pictures and I felt at the same time how weak our government is that it can't help its own people," said Sadun Mohammed, sitting in his shop reading an article it in the newspaper.
The Iraqi government strongly condemned on Thursday the torture of Iraqi prisoners portrayed in the latest batch of photos stemming from the 2003 Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
"The Iraqi government strongly condemns the torture of Iraqi prisoners revealed in the images broadcast and insist that it is not repeated," a statement read.
Increase violence
The government also approved the "firm condemnation by the State Department and US officials" of these incidents.
While Iraq's press were filled with accounts of a new crop of photos, newspapers elected not to publish the photographs themselves, which nonetheless received extensive exposure on satellite television channels.
"I think if we put pictures in the newspaper like this it will just increase the violence," said Naji Hassan, news editor for the independent daily Sabah al-Jadid. Other editors said the photos were available too late to publish.
"We don't want to publish this picture because they are humiliating and if we published this in a newspaper it would be seen by his family, neighbours and neighbourhood," added Hassan.
A Pentagon spokesperson objected on Wednesday to Australian television broadcasting the pictures because they could "further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world and would endanger our military men and women that are serving in places around the world".
The images, apparently showing dead bodies and bloodied and naked prisoners, were taken around the same time as the original Abu Ghraib abuse pictures leaked in 2004, which caused outrage around the world.
Mike Carey, the producer of the Australian program Dateline, which aired the photographs and videos doubted they could worsen the situation in Iraq.
Outside the ministry of justice in central Baghdad, civil servant Jenan Abed Mohammed expressed her anger over the latest images.
"This is a massive insult for all Iraqis and Muslims," she said. "The occupier doesn't understand the true meaning of freedom, which is what they claim they came to Iraq for."
Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, of the National Concord Front which competed in elections for the first time in December, also expressed shock.
"These images are painful and shocking for every Iraqi," he aid, "All must respect human rights, even those of criminals in prison."