Wikileaks Cable Reopens Inquiry Into Massacre Of Iraqi Family

By Sara Asaria

Mobile phone photo taken by Ishaqi resident of the children’s corpses

A Wikileaks diplomatic cable has forced the Iraqi Government to re-launch an investigation into the allegation that US troops executed a family of 10 including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old infant, then called in an air strike to destroy the evidence, during the 2006 incident in the central Iraqi town of Ishaqi.

The victims are said to include a 28-year old father, Faiz Hratt Khalaf, his mother Turkiya Majeed Ali, 74, sister (name unknown) his wife Sumay’ya Abdul Razzaq Khuther, 24, his three children Hawra’a, 5, Aisha, 3 and Husam, 5 months old, two nieces, Asma’a Yousif Ma’arouf, 5 and Usama Yousif Ma’arouf, 3, visiting relative Iqtisad Hameed Mehdi, 23 and unidentified three-year-old child.

The Pentagon has denied allegations of these executions and insists there has been no cover up of information. Lieutenant-Colonel James Gregory, a Pentagon spokesman said, “The incident was properly investigated at the time and no new information has surfaced.”

However, immunity is demanded for military personnel involved in the investigation.

The leaked state document is dated March 27 2006, twelve days after a raid on Ishaqi village, south of Tikrit. It concerns a letter addressed to the US mission in Geneva, by Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitary executions.

Through his letter, which was not made public at the time, Alston reported tales of abuse by American troops. Multinational forces are said to have approached Khalaf’s family home in the early hours of March 15 2006.

After a 25 minute confrontation, with shots being fired from the home, the troops are believed to have entered the house, handcuffed and executed the inhabitants. There is also alleged footage of the corpses of five children and four women in a morgue at Tikriti village, with autopsies confirming the victims had been handcuffed and suffered bullets to the head.

The release of the cable has coincided with current negotiations over the future of US bases in Iraq, whose departure is scheduled for December. The cable is being used as ammunition by Iraqi officials to deny the Americans any bases and to demand the departure of all US troops.www.muslimnews