Arabs respond with fresh anger to prisoner abuses

CAIRO – Arabs responded with fresh outrage Saturday over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, despite apologies for the scandal from US President George W. Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Egyptian and Bahraini MPs strongly denounced the abuses, as did Kuwait’s government. All three countries are notably US allies in the volatile region, and the Gulf states provide support to the American military.Arab media were similarly unimpressed with Rumsfeld’s acceptance of responsibility for the abuses, with one Saudi newspaper calling for nothing short of his resignation.Egypt’s People’s Assembly called the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad “torture” and demanded those responsible be harshly punished, said the state news agency MENA.The deputies “denounced in the strongest terms the crimes of torture, the rape of women and the sexual abuse committed by the occupation troops against civilians and detainees in Iraq”, it said.They urged the international community to intervene to stop such “flagrant violations of human rights” and also urged a “rapid” end of the occupation of Iraq and the installation of an elected government.In Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the parliament issued a statement saying it had followed the saga “with much sadness.”It said it “vigorously condemns these savage acts against the most basic human rights… and asks the coalition forces, especially the United States, to punish those implicated in these acts”.And in comments published on Saturday, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah said the abuse recalled the brutality suffered by hundreds of Kuwaitis at the same Abu Ghraib jail under Saddam Hussein’s rule.”For us in Kuwait, the abuse scandal means a lot.It reminds us of the brutal actions carried out by Saddam Hussein’s regime in this prison in particular,” the minister told Al-Rai Al-Aam daily.The conduct of the US military amounted to “crimes against humanity”, Sheikh Mohammed said.Kuwait was occupied by Iraqi troops for seven months from August 1990.So far it has identified the remains of 110 POWs out of 600 people taken prisoner by Saddam Hussein army.They were found in mass graves in Iraq.The emirate was the main launchpad for the six-week spring invasion of Iraq and is currently home to some 25 000 troops to support Iraqi operations.Both Bush and Rumsfeld have offered apologies to Iraqis and promised action against the perpetrators.But the US president insisted in a national radio address on Saturday that only a few soldiers were involved.Rumsfeld, meanwhile, testified before Congress on Friday to the existence of “blatantly sadistic” pictures from Abu Ghraib and a US senator said cases of murder and rape were likely to emerge.He also pledged an outside review of the investigations to determine whether additional probes were needed.In Riyadh, the English-language Arab News said that “Rumsfeld’s suggestion that an independent inquiry be set up into what happened is a waste of time, and Iraqis simply do not have time to waste”.”Rumsfeld can worry over how it all came about during his retirement from politics which ought to start in the next few days,” it said.”Whether he meant US soldiers to behave in such a bestial way to their prisoners is immaterial.It happened while he was in charge.If he resigns without fuss, perhaps he may begin to redeem himself by making a tiny contribution to the restoration of America’s good name in the world,” the paper concluded.Saudi’s Al-Watan newspaper, meanwhile, said that what is taking place in Iraqi prisons and elsewhere proves American “disrespect” for Arabs and Muslims.”We hope that the conscience of the president (Bush) is revived, however late,” it said in an editorial.- Nampa-AFPAll three countries are notably US allies in the volatile region, and the Gulf states provide support to the American military.Arab media were similarly unimpressed with Rumsfeld’s acceptance of responsibility for the abuses, with one Saudi newspaper calling for nothing short of his resignation.Egypt’s People’s Assembly called the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad “torture” and demanded those responsible be harshly punished, said the state news agency MENA.The deputies “denounced in the strongest terms the crimes of torture, the rape of women and the sexual abuse committed by the occupation troops against civilians and detainees in Iraq”, it said.They urged the international community to intervene to stop such “flagrant violations of human rights” and also urged a “rapid” end of the occupation of Iraq and the installation of an elected government.In Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the parliament issued a statement saying it had followed the saga “with much sadness.”It said it “vigorously condemns these savage acts against the most basic human rights… and asks the coalition forces, especially the United States, to punish those implicated in these acts”.And in comments published on Saturday, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah said the abuse recalled the brutality suffered by hundreds of Kuwaitis at the same Abu Ghraib jail under Saddam Hussein’s rule.”For us in Kuwait, the abuse scandal means a lot.It reminds us of the brutal actions carried out by Saddam Hussein’s regime in this prison in particular,” the minister told Al-Rai Al-Aam daily.The conduct of the US military amounted to “crimes against humanity”, Sheikh Mohammed said.Kuwait was occupied by Iraqi troops for seven months from August 1990.So far it has identified the remains of 110 POWs out of 600 people taken prisoner by Saddam Hussein army.They were found in mass graves in Iraq.The emirate was the main launchpad for the six-week spring invasion of Iraq and is currently home to some 25 000 troops to support Iraqi operations.Both Bush and Rumsfeld have offered apologies to Iraqis and promised action against the perpetrators.But the US president insisted in a national radio address on Saturday that only a few soldiers were involved.Rumsfeld, meanwhile, testified before Congress on Friday to the existence of “blatantly sadistic” pictures from Abu Ghraib and a US senator said cases of murder and rape were likely to emerge.He also pledged an outside review of the investigations to determine whether additional probes were needed.In Riyadh, the English-language Arab News said that “Rumsfeld’s suggestion that an independent inquiry be set up into what happened is a waste of time, and Iraqis simply do not have time to waste”.”Rumsfeld can worry over how it all came about during his retirement from politics which ought to start in the next few days,” it said.”Whether he meant US soldiers to behave in such a bestial way to their prisoners is immaterial.It happened while he was in charge.If he resigns without fuss, perhaps he may begin to redeem himself by making a tiny contribution to the restoration of America’s good name in the world,” the paper concluded.Saudi’s Al-Watan newspaper, meanwhile, said that what is taking place in Iraqi prisons and elsewhere proves American “disrespect” for Arabs and Muslims.”We hope that the conscience of the president (Bush) is revived, however late,” it said in an editorial.- Nampa-AFP