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| Iraq |
| Facing death, freed Iraq detainees fight again |
| 2010-02-17 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Many Iraqis released by U.S. forces after being detained for suspected links to Sunni insurgents have been killed by tribes seeking revenge or are being driven back into the arms of al-Qaeda. Their desperation adds to fears that Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election will fail to quell a Sunni insurgency by drawing former militants into the political process, and help heal the wounds of a sectarian war which has killed tens of thousands of Sunnis and Shiites since the 2003 U.S. invasion. In the desert province of Anbar, families say they are paying thousands of dollars in "blood money" to prevent their sons from being executed when they are released from U.S. military detention. If they can't find the money, their sons often disappear -- sometimes back into the ranks of insurgents. "This has become a phenomenon in Anbar," said Ali Hammad, a prominent sheikh in Anbar who works on national reconciliation issues and mediates between warring tribes. "It is difficult for criminals to leave Iraq, and because they are rejected by the community and face tribal prosecution, they end up joining the same groups and killing again." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Hey, maybe they should have thought of that before joining death squads. I mean, people might get a little irked about that sort of behavior. |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-02-17 00:50 |