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The Iraqi soldiers that are doing the killing as is clearly indicated below. Ventura County Star (California) November 18, 2005 Friday SECTION: MAIN NEWS; Pg. 14 LENGTH: 568 words HEADLINE: U.S. tells Iraq not to use Shiite militias for security BYLINE: Robert H. Reid BODY:

The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq ---- The United States on Thursday warned Iraqi officials against allowing Shiite militias a role in the security services after allegations of torture of Sunni Arabs by the Shiite--led Interior Ministry. The official in charge of the ministry said torture claims were exaggerated. Sectarian rhetoric sharpened four days after U.S. troops found up to 173 malnourished detainees ---- some showing signs of torture ---- in an Interior Ministry building in the capital's Jadriyah district. Most were believed to be Sunni Arabs, the main group in the insurgency.

A leader of a major Sunni party, Tariq al--Hashimi, told Iraq's Sharqiyah television that his group had submitted 50 complaints of prisoner abuse to the government, "but we did not receive a timely response." Interior Minister Bayn Jabr, a Shiite, brushed aside the complaints, denied sectarian bias and said that "every time" al--Hashimi has differences with him "he exerts pressure on me through the U.S. Embassy." "I reject torture and I will punish those who perform torture," Jabr said. "No one was beheaded, no one was killed" ---- a clear reference to the beheadings of foreign and Iraqi hostages by insurgents, including al--Qaida's Iraq wing. He also said "those who are supporting terrorism are making the exaggerations" about torture and that only seven detainees showed signs of abuse. "They have described the Interior Minister's office as a place of execution," Jabr said. "Let him come to show me if there is an execution place in this shelter."

In a statement Thursday, the U.S. Embassy said Iraqi authorities had given assurances that they will investigate the conditions of the detainees found Sunday night and that the abuse of prisoners "will not be tolerated by either the Iraqi government" or U.S.--led forces. "We have made clear to the Iraqi government that there must not be militia or sectarian control or direction of Iraqi security forces, facilities or ministries," the U.S. statement added. Prominent Sunni Arabs have complained for months about abuse by Interior Ministry forces, whom they say have been infiltrated by Shiite militias. The Sunnis called for an international inquiry after the detainees were found at the lockup in Jadriyah. The government denies the militia allegations.

Last May, however, officials confirmed a Shiite militia affiliated with Jabr's party helped capture five men wanted in a deadly car bombing in Baghdad. Another Shiite militia took part in a joint raid with police last month southeast of the capital in which about 20 people were killed.

The U.S. statement seemed designed to reassure the Sunni Arab minority that the Americans are keen to defend their interests at a time when Washington is encouraging a big Sunni Arab turnout in the Dec. 15 election ---- hoping that will help take the steam out of the insurgency. America's death toll rose Thursday as the U.S. military reported a U.S. Marine killed the day before in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. An Army soldier died Thursday in a traffic accident near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, the command said. The deaths raised to at least 2,082 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. U.S. officials have refused to say how many detainees showed signs of torture and whether most were Sunnis, pending completion of an Iraqi investigation. LOAD--DATE: November 29, 2005

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