US launches probe into Afghan detainee abuse

THE US military, facing an Arab world backlash for its treatment of Iraqi prisoners, announced yesterday it had launched an investigation into a complaint of detainee abuse in Afghanistan.

Former Afghan police colonel Sayed Nabi Siddiqui told the New York Times he was subjected to beating, kicking, sleep deprivation, taunts and sexual abuse during 40 days in US custody in Afghanistan last year.

The report will be of considerable concern to the 20,000-strong US-led force in Afghanistan hunting al- Qaida and Taliban fighters waging an insurgency against the government. The force has not faced the same level of resistance since toppling the Taliban as US troops are seeing in Iraq.

“Yesterday afternoon, coalition leaders were notified of an allegation of detainee abuse,” US military spokesman Lt Col Tucker Mansager told a news briefing, apparently referring to the police officer’s complaint. “Upon notification, coalition forces immediately launched an investigation into this matter.”

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission said it was approached by Siddiqui several months ago, and he complained of torture, but not in detail. He also wanted compensation.