Iraqi official probes torture allegations
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-15 09:54

An Iraqi official said Monday he will investigate allegations that Interior Ministry officers tortured suspects detained in connection with the country's insurgency.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal's announcement came after U.S. troops took control of a ministry building in Baghdad late Sunday, apparently in connection with repeated allegations that Iraq security forces were illegally detaining and torturing suspects.

Kamal, the Interior Ministry's undersecretary for security, confirmed the raid took place but said all those being held there were "terrorists."

Kamal said he was forming a special committee to look into torture allegations and anyone found abusing suspects will be punished.

Leaders of the Sunni Arab minority, which is the core of the insurgency, have accused Shiite-dominated security forces of detaining, torturing and killing hundreds of Sunnis simply because of their religious affiliation.

Interior Minister Bayan Jabr is also a Shiite and a member of Iraq's largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.