WP: Blair Newly Rebuked Over Prison Abuses

[kskiska]

LONDON, May, 10 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair faced a new wave of criticism Monday from opposition and anti-war politicians after conceding that he and his ministers had not seen a Red Cross report earlier in the year on abuses of Iraqi prisoners that included allegations of misconduct by British forces.

Speaking at a hostile session of the House of Commons, Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon insisted that all accusations against British troops were being thoroughly investigated. He said the three specific allegations in the report from the International Committee of the Red Cross had been dealt with months ago and that military officials had seen no reason to pass them on to him or the prime minister.

Hoon then took the offensive by challenging the authenticity of photographs published 10 days ago in the Daily Mirror that purportedly showed an Iraqi prisoner being abused. He said that the truck model depicted in the photos had not been used in Iraq and later demanded in a television interview that the newspaper explain "why it is they have perpetrated this hoax." The Mirror issued a statement standing by its story.

Hoon's defense did not placate lawmakers, including some from Blair's ruling Labor Party, who said the issue had moved well beyond the newspaper's allegations. They said government officials should have acted sooner in dealing with charges of mistreatment and should have raised with American officials allegations made in the report of torture and abuse by U.S. troops.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13792-2004May10.html

[AlCzervik]

1. watching it now on cspan site

here's the link.http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=PMQ&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=PMQ&Rot_HT=&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=30&ShowVidDesc=

[dArKeR]

2. MoD KNEW ABOUT PoW ABUSE A YEAR AGO

May 10 2004


PoW ABUSE SCANDAL

By Paul Gilfeather Whitehall Editor

THE Prime Minister says he knew nothing about a Red Cross report warning of "serious violations of international humanitarian law" in detention centres run by coalition forces, until they were revealed in the media.

The Government was told a year ago that rogue British troops allegedly murdered and tortured Iraqi prisoners.

Astonishingly, it kept the news secret. Now ministers are under pressure from furious MPs to come clean. Amnesty detailed the claims in a memo to the MoD in May and told Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon in October.

More memos and a meeting followed. The allegations were backed by a Red Cross report sent to the Government in February and this month's Mirror disclosures.

Yet last week Armed Forces minister Adam Ingram said he had not seen ANY reports on mistreatment from "external organisations".

Last night, as Mr Hoon prepared to make a Commons statement on the scandal today, MPs accused the Government of hiding the truth.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14226211%26method=full%26siteid=50143%26headline=mod%2dknew%2dabout%2dpow%2dabuse%2da%2dyear%2dago-name_page.html

BafHoon is a liar!