European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 8, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 stars and stripes sunday aprils 2007 in the world iranian held in Iraq says Cia tortured him by Ali Akbar Sareini the associated press Tehran Iran an iranian Diplomat freed two months after being abducted in Iraq accused the Cia of torturing him Dur ing his detention state television reported saturday the United states immediately denied any involvement in the iranians disappear Ance or release Jalal Sharafi who was freed tuesday said the Cia questioned him about Iran re lations with Iraq and assistance to various iraqi groups according to state television once they heard my response that Iran merely has official relations with the iraqi government and officials they intensified tortures and tortured me through different methods Days and nights he said shamans comments came a Day after 15 British sailors released by Iran said they had been subject to psychological pressure and coercion in Captivity after being Cap tured on March 23 for allegedly entering Ira Nian Waters and released wednesday at the time of his disappearance Iran alleged Sharafi had been abducted by an iraqi military unit commanded by Ameri can forces a charge repeated by several iraqi shiite lawmakers us authorities de Nied any role in his disappearance the United states had nothing to do with or Sharafi detention and we Welcome his return to Iran said Gordon Johndroe a White House spokesman who was with pres ident Bush in Texas on saturday the iranian propaganda machine has been in overdrive since they paraded the British sailors around on to this is just the latest theatrics of a government trying to deflect attention away from its own unacceptable actions Johndroe added a us intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Issue said the Cia vehemently denies any role in the capture or release of Sharafi the official also said the Cia does not conduct or condone torture in the report saturday read by a newscaster Sharafi second Secretary at the iranian embassy in Baghdad said he was kid napped by agents of an iraqi organization operating under Cia supervision state television said signs of torture were still visible on Sharafi who is being treated at an iranian Hospital images of Sharafi were not shown the television quoted Sharafi As saying he was approached by agents while shop Ping in Baghdad the agents allegedly showed him iraqi defense ministry identification papers and were driving us coalition vehicles he said they took him to a base near Bagh dad Airport and interrogated him in both arabic and English questioning him mainly about Iran influence in Iraq and Assis Tance to iraqi prime minister Nouri Alma Lillis government and iraqi groups Sharafi did not provide additional details about his captors or their nationalities after the initial interrogation Sharafi said his captors softened their behaviour and showed leniency to encourage him to cooperate i explained i was unable to do anything outside my Legal responsibilities Sharafi was quoted As saying later they released me under pressure from iraqi government officials they dropped me near the Back of the Airport militants Send terms for release of israeli Ramallal West Bank a palestinian Cabinet minister said saturday that egyptian mediators working for the release of an abducted israeli Soldier held by palestinian militants had passed the captors de mands to the israeli govern ment opening the Way for the soldiers speedy release information minister Mustafa Barghouti said the egyptians had told the palestinian authorities they had sent the israelis a list of palestinian prisoners they wanted freed in Exchange for Cpl Gilad Shalit snatched in a raid from Gaza into Israel last june he said he did not How Many prisoners were on the list and did not give further details 16 killed by explosion in South Indian Village Chen Dur jeep exploded in a South Indian Village saturday killing 16 people and in Juring 22 More a senior police official said the vehicle was carrying a Gela tin based explosive from a gov Enmen licensed depot to be used to blast rocks on a Highway construction project when the vehicle caught fire inspector Gener Al k Radhakrishna said the villagers saw smoke emerging from the jeep and stopped it the Driver and his assistant and some villagers tried to put out the fire by throwing Sand on it when the explosion took place Radhakrishna added it was a very tragic Accident the massive explosion rattled the Small Village damaged five houses and charred Trees in the Vicinity the blast occurred in Chen Dur Village 80 Miles South of Chen Nai the capital of tamil Nadu state from the associated press Captain of sunken cruise ship charged the associated press Athens greek prosecutor on Satur Day charged the Captain of the sunken sea Diamond cruise ship with negligence after the vessel foun dered off an Island in the Aegean sea an official said the search for two missing French passengers continued the rest of the 1154 passengers and 391 Crew were safely evacuated after the ship hit rocks thursday and started to list the greek Captain was charged with causing a Shipwreck through negligence breaching International shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment a merchant Marine ministry spokes woman said but said she could not confirm a report on state net to that five other officers who had been questioned also were charged she spoke anonymously according to customary government practice she said the Captain and the five other officers who had been arrested after the Accident appeared before a prosecutor on the nearby Island of Naxos on saturday and have been released pending fur ther investigations if upheld in court the charges against the Captain carry a maximum five year sentence Petros passengers disembark Friday in Piraeus Greece from the cruise ship which carried about 300 Passen Gers taken from the cruise ship sea Diamond before the vessel Sank the ministry spokeswoman said the other officers questioned were chief mate second mate third mate chief Cabin Steward and housekeeper of the greek flagged vessel All six Are greek nationals according to the cruise company Greece based Louis hellenic cruises the company had no comment on the charges and did not release the officers names children face dangers after tsunami by Seraiah Foley the associated press Gizo Solomon islands As flies buzzed around a Basket of bloody Gauze Moana Saito nursed her Newborn daughter delivered saturday in an open air maternity Ward near the epicentre of the so Lomon islands earthquake and tsunami disaster swaddled in tie dyed Muslin me baby rested in Santos arms As she recovered on a wooden cot under a Blue Tarpaulin stretched Over a Metal clothesline its Lucky if s not raining said the attending nurse Vaselin gaga he who delivered Santos baby the nurse has delivered three babies in two Days at the makeshift network of tarpaulins and tents Rob Moana Saito nurses her Newborn in a tent Hospital saturday in Gizo in the Solomon islands that sprung up to replace gizmos Hospital partially destroyed by mondays tsunami health officials warn that with out proper sanitation the number of child deaths in the disaster zone could Rise significantly unhygienic conditions and a Lack of clean water have contributed to isolated cases of diarrhoea and dysentery in some refugee Camps and International Aid work ers were scrambling to dig la Trines and set up water purifiers earlier this week the United nations warned that up to 30000 children could be affected by the disaster including 15000 under the age of 5 these children Are highly vulnerable to hunger disease and the disruption of their Normal lives and protective social systems and require urgent lifesaving Assis Tance to survive the in said in a statement pakistanis seek strikes on militants by Munir Ahmad the associated press Islamabad Pakistan tribesmen have called for Paki stans army to launch airstrikes to rout Alzaida linked uzbek Mili Tants As 20 More foreign fighters reportedly died in fighting near the afghan Border officials said Friday an army official said that some pakistani troops have been sent to the area but added that they would not directly engage Mili Tants nearly three weeks of fighting in South Waziristan Between local and foreign militants has left about 260 people dead mostly uzbeks according to unverified figures provided by officials in what the government has claimed As a Victory against terrorism the army says it is not directly involved in the fighting Al though questions remain Over How the tribesmen have so far mobilized such stiff resistance on their own at a gathering thursday some tribal elders demanded the army support them with airstrikes but no formal request was made Rasol Khan a senior government official told the associated press by phone from the regions main town Wana some of them demanded air strikes he said but added that the majority neither opposed nor supported the idea and just wanted to pursue the foreign militants and Mil them Khan said the tribesmen had evicted or killed uzbek fighters from Shin Warsak and Azam War Sak and the area around Wana was now Safe he said the foreign ers were on the run hiding in Remote mountains forests and ravines no army spokesman was immediately available for comment but an army official in Islamabad said troops had moved into the Shin Warsak area after tribesmen evicted foreign militants from there