AFP – April 11, 2007
Iran has shown footage of the wounds of an Iranian diplomat released after two months in captivity in Iraq, saying the pictures show he was tortured by US forces.
"The United States, whose officials make claims about human rights, drilled holes into the legs of Jalal Sharafi and there were signs of damage to his nose and neck," state television said.
Television showed footage of Mr Sharafi in hospital, his feet badly bruised and body covered by sensors, as he was visited by the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Iran, Peter Stocker.
Iraq's ambassador to Iran, Mohammed Majid al-Sheikh, was also present.
The US has denied any role in the detention of Mr Sharafi, who was freed on April 3 amid the stand-off between the United Kingdom and Iran over the captured British sailors who were released the next day.
But Mr Stocker has denied claims by Iranian state television that the ICRC had confirmed after the meeting with the diplomat that Mr Sharafi, second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, had been tortured.
"I saw wounds, on the back and feet, which were several weeks old and I could see that they were very serious," he told AFP.
"But in these circumstances we cannot confirm how these wounds were carried out."
Iranian television said the footage "showed that after the Iranian diplomat was kidnapped in Baghdad by American forces, he was beaten and savagely tortured".
Mr Sharafi, who was abducted outside a branch of the Iranian state-owned Bank Melli on February 4, said after his return to Tehran that he was tortured "day and night" and interrogated by CIA officials.
www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1894881.htm
Last updated 13/04/2007
Homepage