Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Torture in Iraq a US internal affair: Indian deputy premier

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, May 10, IRNA -- Even as India continues to maintain a 
deliberate--and telling--silence on the growing controversy 
surrounding the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US forces, Indian 
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani declared that what has happened is 
an "internal matter" for the US. 
"What has happened is shocking and disgusting and one gets the 
feeling of revulsion," Advani told Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) at 
Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the southern Indian state of 
Kerala, recently. At the same time, he said it was up to the Indian 
government "to decide what to condemn and what not to condemn." 
Advani was joining issue with Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony, 
who said if Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi had been prime minister, 
India would have strongly condemned the US behavior in Iraq. 
"Antony`s observation is subjective. We also don`t comment on 
everything, just as the US does not comment on every internal 
happening in India," Advani said. 
The issue is a sensitive one in Kerala, given complaints by 
Malayali workers of having been mistreated by American troops in 
Iraq. 
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