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A Rape Case Goes Public, Igniting Political Fray
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The Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also criticized Maliki. "By God, if you don't bring justice to this Muslim Iraqi woman, whom you should view as your sister or daughter," he said in a televised interview, "history will curse us with eternal disgrace."
The Islamic Army in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group, weighed in more forcefully, issuing a statement on its Web site vowing to avenge the alleged assault. The statement declared a "state of maximum alert" and called on its followers to "intensify attacks against the Iraqi security forces" in support of Sunni Muslim women.
The threat came on a day when at least 11 people were killed by car bombs in the capital, a police spokesman said.
North of Baghdad, at least six people were killed and more than 100 hospitalized after a truck apparently carrying a toxic chemical exploded, another police spokesman said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair planned to announce Wednesday the withdrawal of 1,500 British troops from Iraq in the coming months, rising to 3,000 by Christmas, the BBC reported Tuesday. Britain has about 7,000 troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the president of the Iraqi Journalists Union said U.S. troops raided the group's office Monday and detained 10 of its guards. Shihab al-Timimi called the raid "a strange and irresponsible act" and said he has called the U.S. ambassador in Iraq and the U.S. military.
Military officials did not immediately respond to an e-mail sent Tuesday night asking for information on the reported raid.
The U.S. military disclosed the death on Tuesday of a soldier killed in Anbar province in western Iraq.
Correspondent Joshua Partlow and special correspondents Naseer Nouri, Saad al-Izzi and Naseer Mehdawi in Baghdad contributed to this report.
