The interim Prime Minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi, executed a number of detainees at a Baghdad police station, shortly before the American-led occupation handed over power to the new Iraqi administration, reports said Saturday.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers, the prisoners, handcuffed and blindfolded, were lined up against a wall of the prison, and shot by Allawi with a pistol. The newspapers said he pulled a pistol and executed as many as six people.
Witnesses said Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they "deserved worse than death".
The Prime Minister's office has denied the report in a written statement, saying among others Allawi did not carry a gun.
But the informants told the newspapers that Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
