The US military weighed into the politically explosive case of a Sunni woman allegedly raped last weekend by three Iraqi policemen, announcing its own investigation after the Shiite-run government dismissed her allegations as false.
The announcement, made to reporters by the chief military spokesman on Wednesday, appeared aimed at containing the growing political storm over the case, which strikes at the heart of Iraqi attitudes of dignity and the protection of women.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's exoneration of the three officers after an investigation lasting less than a day has enflamed Sunni-Shiite tension.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, stoked the political flames further on Wednesday by firing a top Sunni official who called for an international investigation into the woman's allegations, which were broadcast on Monday by satellite television stations across the Middle East.
Rape is considered not only an assault on the victim but a grave offense against the victim's entire family and community. The allegations harkened back to the dark years of former president Saddam Hussein's rule, when wives and daughters were raped in front of their husbands and fathers to exact confessions from the men.
Al-Maliki insists the charge was fabricated by Sunni politicians and extremists to discredit the police and the ongoing security crackdown in Baghdad.
He announced a "reward" for the officers who were implicated.
The 20-year-old woman told Arabic language television stations that she was detained on Sunday by Iraqi police at her west Baghdad home and accused of aiding Sunni insurgents.
She was then taken to a police garrison where she was raped by the three policemen before US soldiers arrived and took her away, she said.
"What has been said about the woman's rape seems like a fantasy," said Aida Osayran, a Sunni lawmaker and member of parliament's Human Rights Committee. "It is certain that what she says is improper because it is not in our customs and traditions."
Meanwhile, officials sought to discredit the claim by casting dispersions on the woman's character.
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