Iraq has the right to sue WikiLeaks, says minister of human rights

Baghdad - Iraq has the right to sue WikiLeaks if the documents published at the weekend are incorrect and inaccurate, Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Mikhail Salim said Monday.

'It's Iraq's right to sue the site. If there is freedom of expression, there is also the right to reply and the right to claim rights,' Salim told state-run Al-Iraqiya TV channel.

He added that a committee formed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was checking the accuracy of the documents.

The committee, headed by Minister of Justice Dara Nur Eddin, will 'observe and follow up' the Pentagon documents, Iraq's National Security Council said earlier.

The WikiLeaks documents, published online late Friday, have been a sensation in Iraq, with analysts arguing that the information could derail al-Maliki's efforts for another term in office.

The documents hint at al-Maliki's connections to the rampant abuse of Iraqi detainees at the hands of Iraqi security forces and operations carried out by so-called death squads.

But al-Maliki's camp has tried to quell the controversy around the leaked documents by characterising them as as an attempt by his opponents to discredit the prime minister.


(2010-10-25/monstersandcritics)