Top Sunni official fired over rape case

[mcpeepants]

Top Sunni official fired over rape case

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fired a top Sunni official Wednesday after he called for an international investigation into the rape allegations leveled by a Sunni Arab woman against three members of the Shiite-dominated security forces.
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A statement by al-Maliki's office gave no reason in announcing the dismissal of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, head of the Sunni Endowments. Al-Samaraie, whose organization cares for Sunni mosques and shrines in
Iraq, had joined other prominent Sunnis in criticizing the government's handling of the case.

Al-Samaraie, speaking from Amman in neighboring Jordan, disputed al-Maliki's right to fire him, arguing that only Iraq's Presidential Council — which comprises President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies — has that authority.

He said the woman who made the rape allegations was one of many who had sexually assaulted by the security forces. "Many girls are raped but they refuse to appear in the media so as not to tarnish their reputations," he said.

The 20-year-old woman said she was assaulted Sunday at a police garrison where she was taken on suspicion of helping Sunni insurgents. Al-Maliki's office Wednesday released what it said was a medical report indicating no signs of rape.

Al-Maliki has said the rape allegations were being used by his critics to discredit the security forces and undermine a major, U.S.-led Baghdad crackdown. In exonerating the three officers Tuesday, al-Maliki said they should be rewarded as a sign of confidence in the force.

Al-Samaraie said in a statement Monday that the rape allegations offered what he called proof of the failure of the security push in Baghdad to protect the city's residents.

"The Sunni Endowments strongly denounces this horrific crime and lets out a cry for help from the international community and human rights organizations, demanding that they launch an immediate investigation into this crime," said the statement, signed by al-Samaraie.

His dismissal is the latest move in a highly publicized and increasingly bitter tussle over the rape allegations, pitting al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government of al-Maliki against its Sunni Arab critics. The public quarrel is fueling charges by the Sunnis that the Baghdad crackdown was targeting Sunni neighborhoods and leaving unaffected Shiite areas harboring militias blamed for sectarian killings.

In his Tuesday statement, al-Maliki said the woman "had not been subjected to any sexual attack" and that three outstanding warrants had been issued against her for unspecified charges. He also accused "certain parties" — a thinly veiled reference to Sunni politicians — of fabricating the allegation.

The woman made the allegations Monday, one day after the alleged assault, telling Arabic language television stations that she was assaulted by the three policemen after she was taken into custody for allegedly helping Sunni insurgents.

Although the woman did not say her attackers were Shiites, many Sunnis associate the police with the rival sect.

Rape is considered especially heinous in conservative Muslim countries, and victims rarely come forward since they risk not only public scorn but possible "honor killing" at the hands of male relations seeking to restore the family's honor.

The speed with which the officers were exonerated outraged many Sunnis at a time when sectarian tensions are high.

"A succession of past governments that ruled Iraq destroyed their enemies and rivals within days or months. But the governments that ruled in the past four years are killing the Iraqi people," Sunni lawmaker Abdul-Nasser al-Janabi told Al-Jazeera television late Tuesday .

In a statement posted on the Web, a major Sunni insurgent group — the Islamic Army in Iraq — declared "we will not sleep or be satisfied until we avenge you and every free woman who was stripped of her virtue and dignity." The authenticity of the statement could not be confirmed.

[spywizard]

looks like the rape rooms are more of a way of life for these people more so than a fault of the previous government..??

[singern]

Not so fast.........


BAGHDAD, Iraq — .

"It has been shown after medical examinations that the woman had not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever and that there are three outstanding arrest warrants against her issued by security agencies," the government statement said.
"After the allegations have been proven to be false, the prime minister has ordered that the officers accused be rewarded," it said without elaborating.

There was no comment from Sunni officials, who expressed outrage over the woman's allegation and demanded swift punishment. Sunnis blame the police for many of the death squad killings of Sunnis over the past two years.

[DTBusta]

nice singern..good that they corrected it before everyone flipped out over nothing.

[singern]

nice singern..good that they corrected it before everyone flipped out over nothing.

I dont print the news, I only discuss it. Whether she is a scheming sack of shit or this is a government cover up, none of us know the truth.

[DTBusta]

right , so then you can only doubt the truth they print. Which is being a sceptic, or if you ask our president with those that do this,they are "emboldening the terrorists"

[singern]

right , so then you can only doubt the truth they print. Which is being a sceptic, or if you ask our president with those that do this,they are "emboldening the terrorists"

I dont know the truth and neither do you, I am only saying it wouldnt be the first time a woman faked a rape for whatever reason, be it personal, profit, or even political.

certainly if the rape is true, then the punishment should fit the crime, and not be used as a reason for blowing people up in a market or mosqe.
If the rape is a lie the woman and those who put her up to it should pay the price of the unrest they have caused.