Widow of Italian policeman slain in Iraq says he witnessed prisoner abuse

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040511/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_prisoners_italy&cid=1514&ncid=1480

ROME (AFP) - An Italian policeman killed in an attack in Iraq (news - web sites) last November witnessed abuse of Iraqi prisoners, his wife told public television, saying he told her detainees were "treated worse than cockroaches".


"My husband saw a prison, a horrible place, where detainees were imprisoned naked," said Pina Bruno.


Her husband, Massimiliano Bruno, was killed in a suicide bombing on a base of the Italian contingent in southern Nasiriyah, the worst assault on Italian troops since World War II, which left 19 Italians and nine Iraqis dead.


"Massimiliano was shocked by what he saw," she told Rai television, without specifying the location or the nationality of the troops allegedly involved. "The Italians were coming to take Iraqi prisoners and told them: 'If you behave yourself, we'll get you out of here, we'll get you to work for us'."


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