Iraq probes leaked U.S. documents
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The Iraqi government has set up a committee to investigate the U.S. documents released late Friday about abuse allegations by U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces against Iraqi civilians and detainees, government spokesman said Monday.
"The Iraqi National Security Council, chaired by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has decided to set up the committee which is headed by the Minister of Justice and the membership of a number of Iraqi ministries, including security ones, to follow up the mass documents released by the WikiLeaks Website," Ali al-Dabbagh, the government spokesman said.
The committee will decisively investigate the documents. Those involved in violations of human rights against Iraqis will be accountable for their acts, Dabbagh said.
On Saturday, the Iraqi government criticized the WikiLeaks documents, saying that the way the documents released and their timing raise questions about whether it was motivated by politics.
"We confirm that the prime minister is the commander in chief of all security forces, which are carrying out their duties to arrest or punish when ordered by the judiciary, and not on sectarian or partisan bases as some parties are trying to say," the government said in a statement.
"The Iraqi government will seek justice for its citizens who were victims of any abuse, whether for those (citizens) who filed lawsuits or those who did not," the statement said.
Some of the nearly 400,000 WikiLeaks documents were detailed reports by the U.S. military about alleged torture and brutality by Shiite-dominated security forces, mostly against Sunni prisoners, many of whom supported the cross-sectarian political bloc of Iraqia, headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi.
Maliki is fighting for another term for the premier post and is facing bitter resistance from his rival Ayad Allawi, who gained narrow win with two seats in the country's March 7 parliamentary elections.
