Human rights abuses in Iraq are now as bad as they were under Saddam Hussein and are even in danger of eclipsing his record, according to the country’s first Prime Minister after the fall of Saddam’s regime. ‘People are doing the same as [in] Saddam’s time and worse,’ Ayad Allawi told The Observer. ‘It is an appropriate comparison. People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things’ … Allawi accused fellow Shias in the government of being responsible for death squads and secret torture centres. The brutality of elements in the new security forces rivals that of Saddam’s secret police.
Iraq’s president dismissed Mr Allawi’s allegations, saying his government did not accept the torture of prisoners. The BBC’s Jim Muir in Baghdad says Mr Allawi’s remarks come as Iraq prepares for parliamentary elections next month, which he hopes could see him return as prime minister.
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