IRAQ: SUSPECTED IRAQI INSURGENT ACCUSES UNITED STATES TROOPS OF TAKING HIS MOTHER AND SISTER HOSTAGE
Record ID:
338317
IRAQ: SUSPECTED IRAQI INSURGENT ACCUSES UNITED STATES TROOPS OF TAKING HIS MOTHER AND SISTER HOSTAGE
- Title: IRAQ: SUSPECTED IRAQI INSURGENT ACCUSES UNITED STATES TROOPS OF TAKING HIS MOTHER AND SISTER HOSTAGE
- Date: 7th April 2005
- Summary: (EU) TAJI, IRAQ (APRIL 5, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV EXTERIORS OF HOUSE OF IRAQI SUSPECT WHOSE FAMILY WERE ALLEGEDLY TAKEN AWAY BY U.S. FORCES; MV FRONT DOOR OF HOUSE WITH NOTE FROM U.S. ARMY 0.21 2. CLOSEUP OF NOTE READING (IN ARABIC) "Be a man Muhammad Mukhlif and surrender yourself and then we will release your sisters. Otherwise they will spend a long time in detention. Bandit 6." INCLUDING PHONE NUMBER OF THE U.S. FORCES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE 0.31 3. MV INTERIOR HOUSE, FURNITURE HAS BEEN TURNED OVER; RANSACKED HOUSE (3 SHOTS) 0.45 4. MV NEIGHBOUR TRYING TO TIDY HOUSE; SLV EXTERIOR HOUSE AND GARDEN; SLV NEIGHBOURS DRIVING IN; MV NEIGHBOURS WALKING PAST CAMERA (5 SHOTS) 1.11 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) NEIGHBOUR OF SUSPECTED INSURGENT KAMAL ABBAS, SAYING: "The Americans came three days ago with Iraqi National Guards and raided the house of Mukhlif al-Batawi (suspect's father). From what I understood from the translator working with them, they were looking for one of his sons. When they could not find them they took his wife and his daughter and they destroyed everything inside the house. This is not acceptable. This is not democracy. Even God would not accept this." 1.54 6. NEIGHBOURS TALKING TO EACH OTHER OUTSIDE SLV THE HOUSE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FACT THAT THEY TOOK THE WOMEN AWAY, WHICH IS CONSIDERED A GRAVE INSULT IN THE MIDDLE EAST 2.07 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (APRIL 5, 2005) (REUTERS) 7. MV SUSPECT WANTED BY THE U.S. SOLDIERS FROM BANDIT SIX UNIT AND ONE OF THE THREE AL BATAWI BROTHERS, ARKAN MUKHLIF AL BATAWI, WALKING 2.12 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SUSPECT WANTED BY THE U.S. SOLDIERS FROM BANDIT 6 UNIT AND ONE OF THE THREE AL BATAWI BROTHERS, ARKAN MUKHLIF AL BATAWI SAYING: "We were detained for a year and a half, me and my brothers. We are three. They arrested me for no good reason. We were held for a year and a half and after that, they released us, after torturing and interrogating us. Now they are starting all over again and raided the house three times looking for us and by the third time, when they couldn't find us, they took my mother and my sister. We want to know why they took them. They say they want one of the sons to give himself up to the Americans. We will do it. But only on one condition: that they release them. Because there have been a lot of instances when the Americans have taken the women, the men have given themselves up, but then they still did not release the women." 2.59 9. SCU ARKAN AL BATAWI'S FACE; BATAWI'S HANDS 3.08 (EU) ABU GHRAIB, IRAQ (FILE - SEPTEMBER 2004) (REUTERS) 10. SLV EXTERIOR ABU GHRAIB PRISON; SLV WATCHTOWER AT PRISON 3.15 11. MV BUS WITH RELEASED PRISONERS DRIVING OUT OF PRISON; MV RELEASED PRISONERS STEPPING OUT OF BUS 3.27 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TAJI, BAGHDAD AND ABU GHRAIB, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA5QIXZ0YW0JDDVEDVU5YTBSY2C
- Story Text: A suspected Iraqi insurgent accuses U.S. troops of
taking his mother and sister hostage to pressure him and
his brothers to surrender.
The U.S. military confirmed on Wednesday (April 6, 2005)
that it has detained two Iraqi females in Baghdad and said
it was investigating accusations that they are being held
hostage to pressure their wanted relatives to surrender.
Neighbours of the al-Batawi family say U.S. soldiers and
Iraqi National Guards came to the house in Taji, north of
the capital Baghdad, looking for three brothers and took
their mother and sister instead as a bargaining chip.
A handwritten sign in Arabic purportedly left at the
house by the troops seen by Reuters read: "Be a man
Muhammad Mukhlif and give yourself up and then we will
release your sisters. Otherwise they will spend a long time
in detention."
It was signed "Bandit 6", apparently U.S. Army code,
possibly designating a company commander.
When Reuters called a mobile number left on the sign an
American who said he was a soldier appeared to be aware of
Batawi's accusation but declined further comment.
But the incident has inflamed the local community who
believe the detention of women violates their culture.
Amnesty International said they could also have broken
international law by taking hostages.
Neighbours, interviewed around Batawi's villa in the
capital's Sunni Arab suburb of Taji, said U.S. troops,
accompanied by Iraqi police, had arrested Batawi's
65-year-old mother and a sister who is 35.
Kamal Abbas, a neighbour said, "The Americans came
three days ago with Iraqi National Guards and raided the
house of Mukhlif al-Batawi (suspect's father). From what I
understood from the translator working with them, they were
looking for one of his sons. When they could not find them
they took his wife and his daughter and they destroyed
everything inside the house. This is not acceptable. This
is not democracy. Even God would not accept this,"
Major Donn Latimer of the 3rd Infantry Division told
Reuters in an email that U.S. Army and Iraqi Police had
detained two females suspected of collaboration with
anti-Iraqi Forces. The email said that they could not
comment further as they were to conduct a thorough
investigation into the matter. Latimer said that evidence
was found at the residence that indicated clear knowledge
of an intent to harm coalition forces.
Arkan Mukhlif al-Batawi, one of the suspects, accused
U.S. forces on Tuesday (April 5) of taking his mother and
sister hostage to pressure him and his brothers into
surrendering for questioning.
Batawi, who spoke to Reuters at the offices of a
leading group of Sunni clerics, said U.S. soldiers searched
his home on Saturday (April 2). When they found neither him
nor two brothers also on the wanted list, they arrested his
mother and sister, he said.
He said he and his brothers Muhammad and Saddam had
spent more than a year in a U.S.-run prison in Iraq, before
being released in August. He denies any link to the
insurgency.
He said he still doesn't know why they were arrested
but believes they were suspected of involvement in
insurgent attacks. All three were released in August from
Abu Ghraib prison, scene of a prisoner abuse scandal that
broke last year, with photos showing U.S. soldiers beating
and humiliating Iraqi detainees.
Batawi, who says his occupation is farming his land
around Taji, said he and his brothers were imprisoned in
2003 on charges of attacking U.S. forces and planning armed
assaults.
"We were detained for a year and a half, me and my
brothers. We are three. They arrested me for no good
reason. We were held for a year and a half and after that,
they released us, after torturing and interrogating us. Now
they are starting all over again and raided the house three
times looking for us and by the third time, when they
couldn't find us, they took my mother and my sister. We
want to know why they took them. They say they want one of
the sons to give himself up to the Americans. We will do
it. But only on one condition: that they release them.
Because there have been a lot of instances when the
Americans have taken the women, the men have given
themselves up, but then they still did not release the
women," Arkan Mukhlif al Batawi said.
He and his brothers had sought the assistance of the
Muslim Clerics' Association, the main voice of Iraq's Sunni
Arabs, in trying to resolve the situation. Batawi, a
farmer, said he would be willing to surrender if the
Americans provided guarantees that his mother and sister
would be freed. Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of Iraq's Sunni Endowment,
which supervises shrines and mosques condemned the act, calling
for the immediate release of the women 'to avoid any
consequences that could take place.'
Many Iraqis accuse American troops of heavy-handed
tactics in their fight against mainly Sunni insurgents.
U.S. commanders insist they do their best to avoid harming
civilians.
When U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, many
Iraqis expected it to usher in an era of democracy and
human rights after decades of dictatorship under Saddam
Hussein.
However, in the two years since Saddam's overthrow the
country has experienced a relentless insurgency and a tense
foreign military presence.
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