Iraqi forces face abuse allegations

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Two detainees may have been tortured to death at the hands of Iraqi security forces, the head of a commission investigating allegations of abuse at Iraqi jails said Tuesday.

But the precise cause of their deaths is unclear, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Rosh Shawais, who is heading the investigation, said in an interview.

Detainees told investigators that the two alleged victims were tortured or starved to death, while prison officials say the pair died of natural causes.

In all, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters Tuesday, at least 120 prisoners allegedly have been abused at the hands of Iraqi security forces, more than previously disclosed by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. As many as 18 prisoners may have died while in custody at a Baghdad detention center.

Shawais, an ethnic Kurd, said he is continuing to investigate reports of other deaths.

The new allegations have surfaced at the end of a heated and sometimes violent political campaign leading up to Thursday’s parliamentary vote. On Tuesday, Mizhir Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab candidate for parliament, was killed and a prominent Shiite candidate was targeted in an assassination attempt.

Meanwhile, four U.S. soldiers died Tuesday after their patrol struck a roadside bomb northwest of the capital.

Nearly 2,150 American service members have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Reports of prisoner abuse in Iraqi-run jails first surfaced last month after U.S. soldiers raided a compound in the Jadiriya section of Baghdad and discovered scores of men showing signs of hunger and torture.

Officials last week discovered another detention center where at least 13 prisoners showed signs of physical abuse.

On Monday, a Sunni politician released a DVD purportedly showing tortured detainees at a third facility, though the allegation could not be confirmed.