Iraqi Suspect Says U.S. Troops Took Mother Hostage

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi apparently suspected by U.S. troops of taking
part in attacks in Baghdad accused U.S. forces on Tuesday of taking his
mother and sister hostage to pressure him and his brothers into
surrendering for questioning.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said he doubted the accusation and
was not aware of such an incident. But neighbors interviewed around Arkan
Mukhlif al-Batawi’s villa in the capital’s Sunni Arab suburb of Taji
corroborated his account.

If true, the troops would have offended local sensibilities about the
treatment of women; Amnesty International said they could also have broken
international law by taking hostages.

Batawi, who spoke to Reuters at the offices of a leading group of Sunni
clerics, said U.S. soldiers searched his home on Saturday. When they found
neither him nor two brothers also on the wanted list, they arrested his
mother and sister, he said.

A message purportedly left at the house by the troops, which urged the
brothers to surrender, contained a mobile telephone number. This was
answered by an American soldier who appeared to be aware of Batawi’s
accusation but declined further comment.

"Last Saturday morning, about 20 Humvees (military vehicles) surrounded
our house and neighboring houses and when they failed to find us they took
our mother and sister," said Batawi, who spent more than a year in
Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib jail after the U.S. invasion but denies any link to
Iraq’s insurgency.

He said he was not sure why the troops wanted to arrest him and his
brothers, Muhammad and Saddam, again. But he believed they suspected them
of involvement in insurgent attacks. All three were released in August
from Abu Ghraib, which became notorious last year for abuses of prisoners
by U.S. troops.

"GIVE YOURSELF UP"

A handwritten sign in Arabic on the front gate of their house read: "Be a
man Muhammad Mukhlif and give yourself up and then we will release your
sisters.

"Otherwise they will spend a long time in detention."

It was signed "Bandit 6," apparently U.S. Army code, possibly designating
a company commander.

When Reuters called the mobile telephone number at the bottom of the
message, an American answered, saying he was on a military patrol. Asked
about Batawi’s accusation, he said: "I can’t comment on that. The
commander will call you back."

Hours later, a second call elicited the same response before the American,
who would not identify himself, hung up.

The U.S. 3rd Infantry Division is active in the area.

A spokesman at U.S. headquarters in Iraq, who also declined to give his
name, said he could neither confirm nor deny the incident. He said he did
not find Batawi’s account "plausible."

Three neighbors of the Batawi home did corroborate the accusation. They
said U.S. troops, accompanied by Iraqi police, had arrested Batawi’s
65-year-old mother and a sister who is 35.

"The Americans attacked the house of the Batawi family. They were
searching for the brothers. When they could not find them they took the
women," said one neighbor, Kamal Abbas.

"Through a translator they told us that they will release the women when
the men surrender."

Batawi, who says his occupation is farming his land around Taji, said he
and his brothers were imprisoned in 2003 on charges of attacking U.S.
forces and planning armed assaults.

NEIGHBORS ANGRY

He said he would be willing to give himself up again if the Americans
provided guarantees that his mother and sister would be freed. He and his
brothers had sought the assistance of the Muslim Clerics Association, the
main voice of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs, in trying to resolve the situation.

"My brothers and I never attacked American forces before.

"But if they do not release our mother and sister we will be ready to
attack them wherever they are," he said.

Near his home, another neighbor, Ali Jassem, said: "If they want the men
they should take the men. Arresting women is not accepted by God ... Our
tribal traditions reject such acts. Where are you, the advocates of
democracy?"

Many Iraqis accuse American soldiers of heavy-handed tactics in their
fight against mainly Sunni insurgents. U.S. commanders insist they do
their best to avoid harming civilians.

There have been reports of U.S. commanders acknowledging they have taken
relatives of fugitives into custody. While questioning relatives is seen
as legitimate among police forces worldwide, holding them as hostages is
not.

At Amnesty International, the London-based human rights lobby group,
Middle East spokeswoman Nicole Choueiry said of Batawi’s case: "I do not
think it is the first time."

"We are against it. It is against international law to take civilians and
use them as bargaining chips."

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