Furor grows in Iraq over alleged rape

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Most facts surrounding the reported rape that has become Iraq's latest political firestorm remain in dispute. But this much is clear:

Three Iraqi policemen, in the span of a few hours, went from being rape suspects to distinguished officers in the eyes of the Shiite-led government.

A Sunni woman's assertion that the officers sexually assaulted her was taken seriously enough to gain her admittance into a U.S.-run medical facility in the fortified Green Zone.

And the handling of the alleged assault has offered a window into Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's idea of damage control.

The 20-year-old married woman said she was taken to an Iraqi police station Sunday after police officers searched her house and accused her of aiding insurgents. She later graphically described her alleged sexual assault in a televised interview that has made her a fixture on Arab news channels since the story broke Monday.

The woman said neighbors alerted U.S. soldiers that she had been arrested, which led to her release. She was admitted to Ibn Sina Hospital, which is run by the U.S. military. Iraqis treated there are generally admitted at the request of U.S. officials.

"The woman was here," hospital spokesman 1st Lt. Justin Kocher said Tuesday night. "She received the care she needed," he added, declining to elaborate.

Reports of rape are rare in Iraq, as in most of the Middle East. They seldom become newsworthy events. But al-Maliki injected himself into the case, issuing a press release announcing that the government had convened a committee to investigate and would hold the perpetrators responsible. The initial press release identified the woman, who has a common Sunni name.

Hours later, al-Maliki reversed course, issuing another statement calling the woman an impostor and a criminal with three outstanding warrants.

"After confirming the falsehood of these claims," it said, al-Maliki "has ordered that these distinguished officers be honored." It did not identify the officers or explain why the accolades were justified.

Saleh Muhamed al-Mutlaq, a Sunni member of parliament, decried the way al-Maliki handled the case and accused him of covering up the acts of what he said must have been a rogue group of officers at the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.

"They gave them a compliment," he said about the officers. "That's an insult to the family and the tribe. To do that in such a fast way is not fair. The investigation should have been done in a quiet, steady way, taking time to get the reality."

The Sunni speaker of parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also criticized al-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.