The war crimes confessions growing louder

Confession that formed base of Iraq war was acquired under torture: journalist

41 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) - An Al-Qaeda terror suspect captured by the United States, who gave evidence of links between Iraq and the terror network, confessed after being tortured, a journalist told the BBC.

Iban al Shakh al Libby told intelligence agents that he was close to Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and "understood an awful lot about the inner workings of Al-Qaeda," former FBI agent Jack Clonan told the broadcaster.

Libby was tortured in an Egyptian prison, according to Stephen Grey, the author of the newly-released book "Ghost Plane" who investigated the secret US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prisons that housed terror suspects around the world.

US President George W. Bush confirmed the existence of the network of CIA holding facilities overseas during a September 6 speech defending controversial US interrogation practices.

Libby was apparently taken to Cairo, Clonan told the broadcaster, after being captured in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

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CIA contractor retains conviction

25 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. - A federal judge has denied a request from a former
CIA contractor to overturn his conviction for assaulting an Afghan detainee who later died.

In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle said the evidence supported the jury's verdict against David Passaro. Prosecutors had argued Passaro beat Abdul Wali during two days of interrogations in July 2003 at an Army base in northern
Afghanistan.

"The jurors heard evidence from eye witnesses regarding Abdul Wali's brutal beating, his condition after the beating and expert testimony as to the internal injuries such blows were likely to cause," Boyle wrote. "Despite the defendant's arguments to the contrary, substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict in this case."

Passaro was convicted in August in federal court of felony assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of misdemeanor assault.

Boyle said the evidence showed Wali arrived at the compound as a healthy young man, then died after being beaten for two days.

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