MICHELE NORRIS, host:
In Iraq, the country's interior minister is accusing his critics of exaggerating abuses at a special police prison in Baghdad. American troops raided the prison last weekend and found more than 150 prisoners. Most were believed to be Sunni Arabs, and some showed signs of malnourishment and torture. Joining us from Baghdad is John Daniszewski of the Los Angeles Times.
John, let's start with today's comments from the interior minister. What did he have to say?
Mr. JOHN DANISZEWSKI (Los Angeles Times): The interior minister had a news conference today in which he attacked the reports of torture of Sunni prisoners at that facility in southern Baghdad. He said that, A, they were legal prisoners, that there was paperwork on almost all of them; B, that they were not tortured or--with the exception of seven people, he said, may have been tortured. And he generally tried to portray all this as an exaggeration, something that was brought up by Iraq's political enemies.
It was quite an extraordinary press conference given the fact that the prime minister and the interior minister's own deputy had earlier confirmed cases of torture, but it shows how this current government is divided.
NORRIS: So in this case, the interior minister was not denying that torture took place; he was just saying there were only seven cases of it.
Mr. DANISZEWSKI: That's right. That's--and he seemed to be suggesting that that would be understandable.
NORRIS: The Sunnis have been complaining about the mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led interior ministry for quite some time, and not just in the prisons. Is this being investigated?
Mr. DANISZEWSKI: Well, I think as a result of this investigation at this particular detention center, there is a promised investigation now by the Iraqi government, and the United States is clearly wanting to be involved and ensuring that investigation takes place. Now whether it'll be the kind of investigation that will satisfy the Sunni community as being complete and thorough is still a question, although one factor is that a committee is supposed to be appointed that would be non-sectarian and of esteemed people representing each of Iraq's communities.
But to be honest, there have been these reports for a long time, and the government and the legal environment has not been such that there was any authority strong enough, short of the US military, that could direct or impose such an investigation. So now that the United States has gotten involved, it's probably a lot more likely to take place.
NORRIS: John, in your article today, you quote an American general as saying that because US troops exposed this prison, that general feels that it might actually help the American image there in Iraq. Are you hearing that from Iraqis?
Mr. DANISZEWSKI: I am hearing that the Sunnis are gratified that this issue has come out into the open. It's gone beyond merely their allegations, that it's been validated in this way both by the US military. But to hear it from the prime minister and to see it gaining such international attention from the media now, I do think that that is a--something that pleases them.
But of course, they have a lot of grievances. They think they were ignored. They are still fearful that it's not going to end here, that there'll be other cases, and there's a desire for it to end and for those involved to be punished. But the context is their greater grievance, which there were the dominating group in this country and now they face being a minority.
NORRIS: John Daniszewski is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He joined us from Baghdad.
John, thank you very much.
Mr. DANISZEWSKI: Thank you.
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