Middle East News

Denmark to probe role in handover of prisoners to Iraq

Oct 26, 2010, 15:34 GMT

Copenhagen - Denmark will investigate allegations of possible wrongdoing by its forces in connection with the Iraq conflict, Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Tuesday.

The allegations include that prisoners handed over by Danish forces to Iraqi security forces were later ill-treated, according to some of the classified US military documents recently released by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

'The government views the allegations very seriously,' Rasmussen told a news conference, adding that Defence Minister Gitte Lillelund would compile a report.

The daily Information newspaper that had prior access to the WikiLeaks' cache of almost 400,000 documents said Danish forces took some 95 prisoners. At least 62 were handed over to Iraqi forces.

That tally is higher than the 24 prisoners mentioned in an August 2006 Defence Ministry report to the parliamentary defence committee.

Information said the difference was over the ministry's decision to classify a 'vast majority of detentions' as a British responsibility.

The opposition called for an independent investigation, saying it was unlikely the Defence Ministry or military would be objective.

The Danish forces were based mainly in southern Iraq, and the bulk were pulled out in 2007.

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