Home > Iraqi Lawmaker Says U.S. Soldier Grabbed His Throat

Iraqi Lawmaker Says U.S. Soldier Grabbed His Throat

by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 19 April 2005
3 comments

Wars and conflicts International UK

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi lawmaker accused a U.S. soldier of grabbing him by the throat and shoving him to the ground Tuesday after he parked his car in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Fattah al-Sheikh, an independent, said he had parked his car before a session of parliament when U.S. troops approached him and told him he didn’t have the right permit.

He said a soldier then kicked his car, insulted him and grabbed him by the throat with both hands as others looked on, before tying his hands behind his back with white plastic cuffs and shoving him to the ground.

"I don’t speak English and so I said to the Iraqi translator with them, ’Tell them that I am a member of parliament,’ and he replied, ’To hell with you, we are Americans,"’ Sheikh told parliament, fighting back tears as he recounted the story.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the incident.

"We are aware of the reported incident involving a member of Iraq’s Transitional National Assembly and we are investigating it at this time," a military spokesman said.

Sheikh said other members of parliament were present during the scuffle, which took place at one of the main entrances to the Green Zone, a fortified compound in central Baghdad that houses the parliament, the U.S. embassy and other buildings.

"I can still feel the pain around my neck," Sheikh said. It was not clear how he came to be freed.

After hearing his account, the speaker of parliament said he would call on Iraq’s new prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, to demand a full apology from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

The U.S. embassy said it was looking into the affair.

"We are looking at this at a very senior level. We have an officer down there looking at it right now," Bob Callahan, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy, said. "Once we have investigated we will decide what course of action to take."

Some members of parliament called for all meetings to be suspended until an apology was received, but others opposed the motion saying there was other work to be done.

The parliament is in the process of drawing up its rules and regulations, before it gets on to drafting a new constitution.

© Reuters 2005

Forum posts

  • This American dudes are ignorant, uneducated and selfesteemed human beings. West meets East and there would be so much to learn, blame it on their parents who suffered from the same flaws in personality.

    • Remember what your president said, says, keeps saying, "things are getting better in Iraq." I guess having the occupation military beating up elected officials is more of that "democracy moving forward" process. When Iraq is fully democratized, the MPs will be invited for a vacation at Abu Ghraib or maybe even Guantanamo!

      Let’s just face it, folks. George Bush and his gang of neocons and their arrogant militarism has made America the laughing stock of the world. Some people aren’t even laughing any more, they just outright HATE us, and I (an American, sad to say) can’t blame them. What used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave has now become the land of bended knee and the home of the knave.

      Kinda sucks to have to live in this shithole.

  • this issue is simple as 2+2=4, all iraqis must have shame on face and and all do the same what the iraq resistence is doing, kill americans, put this invaders to run, show them Iraq isn’t their land, says them they are persona non grata. That’s it. FORA YANGUES