ROME - A former detainee at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq claimed on Thursday that Italian-speaking men had interrogated inmates, prompting a quick denial from the office of President Silvio Berlusconi. Ali Shalal El Kaissi, an Iraqi who said he had been detained from October 2003 to January 2004, told Rainews 24 that a fellow inmate had described being questioned by two Italian speakers at the notorious US-run jail.In comments first published on the Internet late Wednesday and broadcast on the television chain Thursday, Kaissi said fellow-inmate Haitham Abu Gaith, a former diplomat, “heard Italian spoken by two of his interrogators”.
| Doesn't pass the sniff test. |
Berlusconi’s office issued a quick denial of any knowledge that any Italians were involved in interrogations there. “The government has no knowledge of Italian citizens at Abu Ghraib,” it said. “The government categorically rules out that any (Italian) servicemen or public agents could have been there.”
KaissiÂ’s comments were carried Thursday in most newspapers in Italy, where the governmentÂ’s support for the US-led invasion of Iraq has stirred strong public criticism.
| Where it's meant to influence the upcoming elections. |