Sunni woman: Iraqi police raped me

Iraqi Sunni woman accuses three Iraqi police of rape dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday February 19, 2007

Cairo- An Iraqi Sunni Muslim woman, 20, accused three Iraqi
police officers Monday of raping her, pan-Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera
reported.
The victim, who appeared on al-Jazeera with her face veiled, said
the incident began when police stormed her house early Sunday in al-
Amel district in western Baghdad while her husband was away.

According to the victim, the police accused her of cooking for
Sunni insurgents and took her to a police station, where they raped
her.

"They covered my eye, and I heard one of them saying let's start,"
the distressed woman said.

One of the officers took photographs during the rape and
threatened her with murder if she reported the rape. The woman said
that a neighbour alerted US soldiers about the attack, and she was
released.

Christopher Garver, a US military spokesman, told al-Jazeera that
he could not confirm any US role in the incident, but said, "The US
military will support the Iraqi government in its investigation."

Al-Jazeera reported that the woman did not specify that her
attackers were Shiite Muslims, though Iraqi Shiites form the majority
within the ranks of Baghdad police, especially senior commando units.

The allegation is likely to spur more tension between Sunnis and
Shiites as Iraqi-US joint forces have been attempting for the seventh
day to enforce a crackdown in the capital, as part of a new Iraqi
security plan.

Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Hussein Ali Kamel rejected the
allegation: "Something like this could not happen, because Iraqi
forces are operating with US forces all the time."

"By God, if you don't bring justice to this Muslim Iraqi woman,
history will curse us with eternal disgrace, Sunni Iraqi Parliament
speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani told al-Jazeera.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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