BAGHDAD, Iraq - The unprecedented U.S. raid on an Iraqi detention facility filled with malnourished torture victims appears aimed in part at scoring points among Sunni Arabs, whose participation in next month's parliamentary election is key to an American exit Iraq.
Sunni Arab politicians have complained for months about arbitrary arrests, torture and assassinations of Sunnis, allegedly at the hands of special commandoes of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry, who are at the forefront of the battle against the largely Sunni insurgents.
The discovery Sunday night of 173 malnourished prisoners — some of them bearing evidence of torture — in an Interior Ministry lockup appeared to vindicate many of the Sunni Arab claims. Most of the prisoners are believed to be Sunnis.
One Sunni politician, Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, said he had personally told Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari about conditions at detention centers, including the one seized by American forces Sunday night. Other Sunni leaders who meet regularly with American officials have been outspoken in complaints about Interior Ministry forces.
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