Afghan Prisoner Abuse

May 20, 2005 --

In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths

A file of an inquiry into the deaths of two detainees at Bagram, Afghanistan, depicts repeated harsh treatment of prisoners. (NY Times)

Interactive Feature: The Bagram File (NY Times)

Red Cross Reported Koran Abuses

The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that it had given the Pentagon "multiple" reports from detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that American personnel had mishandled the Koran. The committee said the complaints from detainees then ceased. (NY Times)

Uzbekistan Rejects Calls For Investigation

Tashkent shrugs off UN calls for an international investigation into a crackdown on protesters that witnesses say left hundreds of people dead. (The Guardian)

Uzbek Troops Reoccupy Town
Rebel leader held in night raid on border. (The Guardian)

Americans Say They Were Detained, Abused

Two U.S. citizens alleged that they were detained for months and harshly interrogated by Pakistani intelligence and American FBI agents on suspicion of having links to Islamic militants, before being freed without charges and abandoned, blindfolded, on a Karachi street. (LA Times)

Pakistan Says Osama Alive But Al Qaeda Paralyzed
The world's most wanted fugitive is alive and on the run with a small group of fighters, Pakistan's Foreign Minister said, claiming army operations had "paralyzed" al-Qaeda's communication network and its ability to attack. (AP)

Judge Says Agents of West Took Egyptian

A judge has said foreign agents kidnapped an Egyptian terrorism suspect in Milan two years ago and flew him from a U.S. base to Egypt for questioning. (Reuters)

More European Air Data Sought by Security Chief

The secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, said on Thursday that he would ask European leaders to share more data about air passengers and cargo headed to the United States, arguing that providing such information could increase privacy and avoid travel delays. (NY Times)

FBI Makes Database Hacker Raids
FBI agents have searched the property of at least 10 people suspected of involvement in electronic break-ins at the US data broker LexisNexis. (BBC)

Kidnapper of Italian Aid Worker Issues Death Threat

A man claiming to have abducted an Italian aid worker in Kabul threatened to kill her yesterday unless his demands were met, even though Afghan officials said there was no imminent threat to her life. (AFP)

Thai Police Seize Al Qaeda Training Video

An Al Qaeda terror training video has been seized during a police raid on an Islamic school in southern Thailand. (ABC Online Australia)

Saddam's Disguise Expert Helping Al Zarqawi
The man who was in charge of Saddam Hussein's disguise plan is now part of the inner circle of Abu Musaab al Zarqawi, an Iraqi interior ministry source told al Hayat newspaper. The disguise expert often accompanies al Zarqawi and has taught him how to speak different Iraqi dialects. Al Hayat also reports that there's information indicating that al Zarqawi knows how to speak sign language. Meanwhile, sources close to insurgent groups said al Jaysh al Islami in Iraq and not al Qaeda in Iraq, was the biggest insurgent group. The two groups had a brief alliance but split after al Jaysh al Islami objected to the killing of civilians. Al Jaysh al Islami, which is made up of former Iraqi intelligence and military officers, is restricting suicide operations and using car bombs to attacks U.S. forces. (Al Hayat)

British Lawyers To Pursue Iraqi Security Forces Over Killings
Families of 15 Iraqi Sunnis found in a mass grave north of Baghdad are to pursue alleged perpetrators in a British court. (The Guardian)

Army Warns Iraqi Forces On Abuse of Detainees
Before leaving Iraq in February, the 1st Cavalry Division compiled a list of more than 100 allegations of abusive treatment of detainees over the previous six months — not by U.S. troops, but by Iraqi soldiers and police. (Washington Post)

U.S. Anger At Saddam Underwear Shot
The U.S. military says it is investigating "aggressively" after a picture appeared in a British paper showing Saddam Hussein half naked. (BBC)

U.S. Moves to Reassert Itself in Iraq Affairs
As insurgent attacks grow, U.S. officials are returning to a more active role to improve services, foster an inclusive government. (LA Times)

British Memo on U.S. Plans for Iraq War Fuels Critics
Critics of the Bush administration are portraying a British government memo as evidence that the president was intent on war with Iraq earlier than acknowledged. (NY Times)

Muslims Dismiss Zarqawi's Argument
Muslims yesterday dismissed the religious justification for killing innocents given by Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. (Arab News)

Al Zarqawi Group Denies Syria Meeting
Iraq's al Qaeda has denied US accusations that an upsurge in car bomb attacks in Iraq was ordered at a meeting of the group in Syria, according to an Internet statement. (Al Jazeera)

An 'Anti-Terror' Tyrant
President Islam A. Karimov of Uzbekistan has wrapped himself in the flag of anti-terrorism and done well by it: hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid, a U.S. military base that demonstrates the close ties between Tashkent and Washington, and bland statements from the United States about his country's appalling human rights record. (LA Times)

Where Torture And Terror Rule
The slaughter of civilians by Uzbek troops has exposed to the world President Islam Karimov's war on his own people. Travelling across the country, Justin Marozzi heard the voices of fear everywhere. (The Guardian)

Rafsanjani: A Necessary Candidate Put To The Test
Those familiar with Iran affairs know that Iran is full of competent figures capable of undertaking difficult tasks and facing the many sizeable challenges. (Al Hayat)

The Best P.R.: Straight Talk
The greatest respect we can show to Arabs and Muslims is to take them seriously and stop gazing at our own navels. (NY Times)

Presumption of Innocence No Longer Granted to Americans
The tragic events that came out of Newsweek's publishing an inaccurate story shine a light on some unfortunate facts. One is that Americans need to realize that the presumption of innocence is no longer granted to them, their policies, or their military. The war against terror and Iraq has led to some disasters and some atrocities. (Arab News)

Counting the Casualties
Any mission in Iraq, far from being accomplished, has barely begun. (Al Ahram Weekly)