US troops accused of theft during house raids

BESIDE the prisoner-abuse scandal, there is another problem Iraqis say they suffer at the hands of US troops — theft of money and property during raids.

Over the past 14 months, US forces have carried out thousands of raids on homes across the country, routinely seizing money, jewellery and other property from Iraqis suspected of "anti-coalition activities".

Items are confiscated on suspicion they could be used to finance attacks against US-led forces.

But Iraqis say the raids often target the wrong people, are carried out in an aggressive, even destructive manner and complain that lifetime savings, precious jewellery and family heirlooms are regularly stolen in the process.

Last year, Wajiha Daoud, an 80-year-old widow, had her Baghdad house raided by US troops who said they had "high-level intelligence" that the home was a safe house for Saddam Hussein loyalists.

During the raid the woman and her family were kept outside. When Wajiha's daughter arrived she found $5,000 in cash and jewellery, including her wedding ring, were missing.

"Confiscation and theft during raids is rampant," said Stewart Vriesinga, a coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams, a non-profit group that documents abuses in Iraq.

"Soldiers don't seem to understand the Iraqi custom of not using banks a lot of people keep fairly substantial sums of money at home. A soldier sees that and thinks the person must be up to no good, so he takes it.

"We don't know how much money has been taken but it's enough to have serious socio-economic consequences," he said.

A spokesman for the US said he was aware of Iraqi complaints of theft during raids and said some US soldiers had been disciplined for "inappropriate conduct". But he said the problem was "very rare, extremely rare".

"If there's any doubt, then it's assumed the Iraqi is lying the Americans are creating enemies by the score," said Vriesinga.