Fred Harteis News Articles - Executions must be condemned, U.S. says

Fred Harteis News Articles - The U.S. military is calling on all Iraqi leaders, Sunni and Shia, to condemn the recent kidnapping and killing of 15 Iraqi police officers in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman.

"With many influential leaders making the same statement, the population will realize that these terrorists are not the future of Iraq," said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S.-led troops in Diyala province, where the police officers were killed on Friday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office confirmed Saturday that a video posted on an al Qaeda-connected Web site showed the execution of the police officers who were kidnapped on Thursday.

The video, posted by a Sunni insurgent group called the Islamic State of Iraq, shows a group of Iraqi men blindfolded in a room. In the final 21 seconds, the video cuts to a scene showing the men lined up, kneeling in a field, before they are shot in the back of the head.

The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and killings in retaliation for an alleged rape that has aggravating the already deteriorating ties between Sunnis and Shiites.

Shiite government leaders, including al-Maliki, say the rape allegation was fabricated and is serving to undermine the Baghdad security plan's effort to target any and all insurgents, no matter what their ethnic or religious affiliation.

Sunni leaders believe the alleged victim is telling the truth and are outraged by the officials' response.

Al-Maliki also questioned whether retaliation was the actual motive of those behind the police officers' killings.

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Source: Cnn.com

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