-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: April 11, 2007 8:38:19 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Would You Rather Be Taken Hostage by Iranians or Americans?
Iranian diplomat claims he was tortured by CIA in Iraq
Belfast Telegraph, April 11, 2007
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/asia/
article2439933.ece
An Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Iraq earlier this year
more than two months has claimed he was tortured by the CIA during
his captivity.
Jalal Sharafi was released last week, more than two months after
being abducted by gunmen wearing Iraqi commando uniforms.
The Iranians claimed he was kidnapped by an Iraqi military unit
controlled by the United States, but the US denied any involvement.
Sharafi has now claimed he was tortured by the CIA and Iranian TV
broadcast images today showing some of his injuries.
Doctors say he was beaten with a cable, had holes drilled in his
foot and had suffered a broken nose, serious injuries to his back,
bleeding in his digestive system and damage to his ears.
-------
Iranian television shows hospital images of diplomat who alleges
CIA torture
By Nasser Karimi
ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 11, 2007
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070411-0630-iran-
diplomat.html
TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian state television showed hospital images
Wednesday of the Iranian diplomat who has accused the CIA of
torturing him during his detention in Iraq.
State TV also reported that the Iraqi ambassador to Iran and an
official from the International Committee of the Red Cross visited
Jalal Sharafi in the hospital Wednesday.
Sharafi was shown in a hospital bed with injuries to his right
foot, while Iraqi ambassador Majid Sheikh and Peter G. Stocker from
the ICRC examined him.
During the examination, the voice of a doctor could be heard
describing how Sharafi had been beaten by a cable during his
detention. Claims of torture have not been independently verified.
Following his visit, Stocker confirmed to The Associated Press that
he saw wounds on Sharafi's body that “were several weeks old,” but
said he did not know how the injuries occurred.
“I cannot say who did it and where it happened,” he said. “I can
only say that it happened during his detention.”
Earlier in the week, Sharafi's doctors reported that holes had been
drilled into his foot, but the TV images were not clear enough to
indicate whether the small, red marks on his foot were indeed holes.
Doctors also reported earlier that he had suffered a broken nose,
serious injuries to his back, bleeding in his digestive system, and
damage to his ears. None of these injuries has been independently
verified, nor were they discernible from the TV footage.
A spokeswoman for the ICRC in Tehran, Katayoun Hosseinnejad,
confirmed the visit took place and said it was initiated by the
Iranians. Stocker was not immediately available for comment, and
Hosseinnejad said she could not comment on whether Sharafi's
injuries indicated torture.
Sharafi was released from Iraq last week and later reported that
the CIA had questioned him about Iran's relations with Iraq and
assistance to various Iraqi groups during his detention.
U.S. officials allege that Iran provides money and weapons to Iraqi
Shiite militias; Iran denies the charges.
At the time of his disappearance, Iran alleged Sharafi had been
abducted by an Iraqi military unit commanded by American forces – a
charge repeated by several Shiite lawmakers in Iraq.
U.S. authorities have denied any role in his disappearance.
Iran envoy repeats US abuse claim
BBC News, April 12, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6544055.stm
Medical staff stayed with Sharafi during the press conference
An Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq has appeared before
journalists in Tehran, saying that a US official was present while
his captors tortured him.
Jalal Sharafi was brought to the news conference in a wheelchair
flanked by nurses, a week after his release.
The second secretary at Iran's Baghdad embassy gave a detailed
account of beatings and interrogations, including being whipped on
his feet with cables.
The US has denied any involvement in Mr Sharafi's abduction.
He was released last Tuesday, a day before the Iranian government
set free 15 British naval personnel it accused of illegally
entering its waters, but no link has been confirmed between the two
cases.
He was abducted in February and held for 57 days.
Trauma
Looking thin and weak at the press conference, Mr Sharafi said his
captors had shown him identity cards from the Iraq Ministry of
Defence.
He said an American official had been present when he was tortured
on his feet with what felt like an electric drill.
"When I regained consciousness, the person who came to me clearly
introduced himself as an American and he could speak," Mr Sharafi
told the BBC.
"But since I didn't speak English, I was using an Arabic
translator," he said.
"At different stages, he told me this man had connections to the US
embassy and was directly responsible for me."
A psychiatrist at the press conference told journalists that Mr
Sharafi was continually reliving the trauma of his torture and had
been badly affected by sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and
a mock execution.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Red Cross official in Iran confirmed he had
seen marks on Mr Sharafi's feet, legs, back and nose.
But Peter Stoeker said he was unable to say if the scars were
result of torture.
US denial
The BBC's Tehran correspondent, Frances Harrison, says there were
visible scars on Mr Sharafi's feet and ankles.
But, she says, it is far from clear who was holding him.
Last week, a White House spokesman denied any involvement in Mr
Sharafi's abduction.
Gordon Johndroe dismissed the claims, accusing Iran's government of
"trying to deflect attention away from its own unacceptable actions".
An unnamed US intelligence official also denied any claims of
abuse, saying: "The CIA does not conduct or condone torture."
See what's free at AOL.com.
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