Shi'ite groups say attacked Polish envoy and embassy in Iraq
By Mariam Karouny
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two Shi'ite militant groups have claimed responsibility for deadly bomb attacks on Polish targets in Iraq, saying they were in response to the alleged torture of Iraqi detainees by troops from Poland.
In a video obtained by Reuters Television on Sunday, the hitherto-unknown Imam Hussein Brigades and Imam Moussa al-Kadhim Brigades said Poland, part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, had allied with the "devil" America to kill Iraqis.
Four masked men, all armed and with one holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, were seen standing in front of black flags bearing the names of their groups in Arabic script. One read from a prepared statement.
"The attacks are a clear message to Poland -- Leave Iraq before you drown in its swamp as Britain did," he said, referring to Britain's recently announced decision to halve its force in southern Iraq by next spring.
"We want to tell Poland that all its interests in Iraq will be targeted by our resistance, including the diplomats, companies and troops. We only exclude journalists," he said.
Poland's ambassador to Iraq, General Edward Pietrzyk, was wounded in a triple bomb attack on his diplomatic convoy in Baghdad earlier this month. A Polish secret service officer and an Iraqi were killed in the attack.
Five days later a car bomb killed two people near Poland's Baghdad embassy. There were no casualties among staff or damage to the building.
"The attacks are a natural reaction to what the Polish troops are doing in Diwaniya, from killing to detentions and torturing of the people in Diwaniya," the masked man said in the video, which was dated last week.
POLES DENY TORTURE CLAIMS
About 900 Polish troops are based in Qadisiya province, also known by local residents as Diwaniya, supporting the 8th Iraqi Army division and training Iraqi soldiers and police.
"Polish troops have never tortured anyone in Diwaniya. All proper procedures concerning detention are followed," the spokesman for Polish forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Wlodek Glogowski, told Reuters.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kacynski, facing a general election in a week's time, has vowed to maintain Polish troops in southern Iraq, despite the attack on the ambassador.
In the video, the groups also referred to Poland's former status as a Soviet satellite state.
"We know you were under occupation and how much you suffered, remember how much you suffered," the speaker said.
Qadisiya is in the largely stable Shi'ite south, which has escaped much of the sectarian violence that has ravaged the rest of the country but has been beset by Shi'ite infighting.
The two main Shi'ite militias, the Mehdi Army loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organisation of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the largest Shi'ite party, have been fighting for control of towns and cities.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
POLES DENY TORTURE CLAIMS
About 900 Polish troops are based in Qadisiya province, also known by local residents as Diwaniya, supporting the 8th Iraqi Army division and training Iraqi soldiers and police.
"Polish troops have never tortured anyone in Diwaniya. All proper procedures concerning detention are followed," the spokesman for Polish forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Wlodek Glogowski, told Reuters.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kacynski, facing a general election in a week's time, has vowed to maintain Polish troops in southern Iraq, despite the attack on the ambassador.
In the video, the groups also referred to Poland's former status as a Soviet satellite state.
"We know you were under occupation and how much you suffered, remember how much you suffered," the speaker said.
Qadisiya is in the largely stable Shi'ite south, which has escaped much of the sectarian violence that has ravaged the rest of the country but has been beset by Shi'ite infighting.
The two main Shi'ite militias, the Mehdi Army loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organisation of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the largest Shi'ite party, have been fighting for control of towns and cities.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
POLES DENY TORTURE CLAIMS
About 900 Polish troops are based in Qadisiya province, also known by local residents as Diwaniya, supporting the 8th Iraqi Army division and training Iraqi soldiers and police.
"Polish troops have never tortured anyone in Diwaniya. All proper procedures concerning detention are followed," the spokesman for Polish forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Wlodek Glogowski, told Reuters.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kacynski, facing a general election in a week's time, has vowed to maintain Polish troops in southern Iraq, despite the attack on the ambassador.
In the video, the groups also referred to Poland's former status as a Soviet satellite state.
"We know you were under occupation and how much you suffered, remember how much you suffered," the speaker said.
Qadisiya is in the largely stable Shi'ite south, which has escaped much of the sectarian violence that has ravaged the rest of the country but has been beset by Shi'ite infighting.
The two main Shi'ite militias, the Mehdi Army loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organisation of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), the largest Shi'ite party, have been fighting for control of towns and cities.
(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
Polish ambassador injured in Iraq Play Video
Sun Oct 14, 2007 8:09 PM GMT
وفي تسجيل مصور حصل عليه تلفزيون رويترز يوم الاحد قالت كتائب الامام الحسين وكتائب الامام موسى الكاظم التي لم تكونا معروفتين من قبل ان بولندا التي تشارك في التحالف الذي تقوده الولايات المتحدة في العراق تحالفت مع "الشيطان" الولايات المتحدة من أجل قتل العراقيين.
وشوهد في التسجيل أربعة ملثمين جميعهم مسلحون وأحدهم كان يحمل قاذفا صاروخيا. وكانوا يقفون أمام أعلام سوداء تحمل اسمي الجماعتين باللغة العربية. وكان هناك شخص يقرأ بيانا.
قال "ان العمليات رسالة واضحة (الى بولندا) أن أخرجي من العراق بماء وجهك قبل ان تغرقي في مستنقع العراق كما غرقت بريطانيا" في إشارة الى قرار بريطانيا الاخير خفض قواتها الى النصف في جنوب العراق بحلول الربيع المقبل.
وأضاف "لتفهم بولندا ان كل مصالحها في العراق ستكون اهدافا لمقاومتنا الشريفة ولا نستثني اي جانب من الشركات والدبلوماسيين والعسكر." ولكنه استثنى الصحفيين.
وأصيب سفير بولندا في العراق الجنرال ادوارد بيترزيك في هجوم انتحاري ثلاثي على قافلته الدبلوماسية في بغداد في وقت سابق هذا الشهر. وقتل ضابط في المخابرات وعراقي في الهجوم.
وبعدها بخمسة أيام انفجرت سيارة ملغومة مما أسفر عن مقتل شخصين بالقرب من السفارة البولندية في بغداد. ولم تكن هناك اصابات بين العاملين في السفارة ولم تقع أضرار في المبنى.
وأضاف الرجل الذي غطى وجهه بكوفية في التسجيل الذي كتب عليه تاريخ الاسبوع الماضي ان هذه العمليات كانت "رد فعل طبيعيا على ما تقوم به القوات البولندية من قتل واعتقالات وتعذيب وترهيب بمحافظة الديوانية."
وهناك نحو 900 جندي بولندي متمركزين في محافظة القادسية التي تعرف أيضا باسم الديوانية لدعم الفرقة الثامنة التابعة للجيش العراقي. وتعمل القوة البولندية على تدريب الجنود وأفراد الشرطة العراقيين.
وقال الليفتنانت كولونيل فلوديك جلوفسكي لرويترز "ان القوات البولندية لم تعذب أحدا قط في الديوانية. جميع الاجراءات السليمة المتعلقة بالاحتجاز يجري اتباعها."
وتعهد رئيس الوزراء البولندي ياروسلاف كاتشينسكي الذي يواجه انتخابات عامة خلال أسبوع بالابقاء على القوات البولندية في جنوب العراق على الرغم من الهجوم على السفير.
.وأشار التسجيل المصور الى تبعية بولندا سابقا للاتحاد السوفيتي.
"تذكروا ما عانيتم من جراء الاحتلال.. نقول للشعب البولندي ان حكومتكم تقتل ابناءنا مرضاة لامريكا من اجل الحصول على مكسب سياسي."0
ومحافظة القادسية منطقة شيعية مستقرة الى حد كبير في الجنوب. من مريم قرعوني.
