Inquiry to investigate prisoner interrogation claims! Opinion Polls flawed? How could John HoWARd be the preferred Prim Minister?The Federal Opposition and the minor parties will today move to establish a Senate inquiry to investigate allegations that Australians in Iraq took part in the interrogation of prisoners.
Former intelligence officer Rod Barton maintains he interrogated prisoners in Iraq, contradicting the Government which says he only took part in 'interviews'?
Labor Senator Chris Evans says Mr Barton and others will be invited to give evidence to the inquiry.
He says the Government has misled the public.
"There are people we know who've been involved who haven't spoken yet and it would be nice to hear what they have to say," he said.
"Labor hopes this inquiry will get the truth out about what happened in Iraq and what the Australian involvement was."
Greens leader Bob Brown says the inquiry will also examine whether the Government censored the reports of Australians who searched for banned weapons in Iraq.
"Was there pressure put on officers reporting back from Iraq to a government that didn't want to know that there wasn't evidence of weapons of mass destruction?" he said.
Democrats leader Lyn Allison says senior public servants may be asked to appear.
"What we want to know is the extent to which the treatment of prisoners was known at each level," she said.
The Defence Minister, Robert Hill, will also be invited to give evidence to the inquiry.
The inquiry may start as early as next week.
By Jack and Jill 8 March 05
In Other Developments:
Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
He details to Four Corners:
* how he quit in disgust after the CIA censored a crucial WMD report, leading to deletion of central facts and conclusions. "We left the impression that maybe there were, was WMD out there...I thought it was dishonest," he says;
* his personal observations of the present head of Britain's MI6, who also played a key role in the David Kelly affair, applying pressure to "sex up" the same report;
* his pre-war advice to the Australian and US governments that Iraq's weapons did not threaten either country;
* how he reported to Australian authorities his suspicions about systemic abuse of prisoners in Iraq by coalition forces, before the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, and how his concerns were ignored;
* his and other Australians' roles in interrogating "high value" Iraqi prisoners - despite Canberra's denials of Australia's involvement in interrogations. "Someone was brought to me in an orange jumpsuit with a guard with a gun standing behind him...of course I didn't pull any fingernails out... but I think it's misleading to say no Australians were involved. I was involved."
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