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Allawi: Iraq Abuses As Bad As Under Saddam
Iraq's Former Interim Prime Minister Claims Rights Abuses Now As Bad As They Were Under Saddam

BAGHDAD, Iraq Nov 27, 2005 — Iraq's former interim prime minister complained Sunday that human rights abuses by some in the new government are as bad now as they were under Saddam Hussein.

Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite Muslim, told the London newspaper The Observer that fellow Shiites are responsible for death squads and secret torture centers and said brutality by elements of Iraqi security forces rivals that of Saddam's secret police.

"People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same thing," the newspaper quoted Allawi as saying....