IRAQ

Rense: US Worse Than Saddam, Iraqi Shiite Leader Charges

A prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric, saying he was detained and beaten by US forces, charged that American methods were "worse" than those employed by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
"Our arrest by the Americans was worse than the arrests that Saddam ordered against our students," Sheikh Mohammed al-Fartusi told Abu Dhabi television.
The cleric, whose followers said he was detained Sunday by US troops along with five other Shiites, reappeared in Baghdad on Tuesday to cheers from hundreds of supporters who had held protests for two days.
Fartusi's comments came as another cleric reported kidnapped was said to have been released along with two busloads of Shiite Muslim pilgrims heading for the holy city of Karbala.
Fartusi claimed that "we were beaten ... spent a night with our hands tied behind our backs," adding however than an American officer did turn up and offer an apology.

"It was disgusting. Despite the fact that none of our young men has pointed a weapon against America ... but next time, God alone knows what popular anger could lead to?"