A
message purportedly left at the house by the troops, which urged the
brothers to surrender, contained a mobile telephone number.
“Be
a man Muhammad Mukhlif and give yourself up and then we will release
your sisters,” read a handwritten sign in Arabic on the front gate
of his house.
“Otherwise
they will spend a long time in detention.”
It
was signed “Bandit 6,” apparently a US Army code, possibly
designating a company commander.
The
US 3rd Infantry Division is active in the area.
When
Reuters called the mobile telephone number at the bottom of the
message, an American answered, saying he was on a military patrol.
Asked
about Batawi’s accusation, he said: “I can’t comment on that.
The commander will call you back.”
Hours
later, a second call elicited the same response before the American,
who would not identify himself, hung up.
Batawi
said he would be willing to give himself up again if the Americans
provided guarantees that his mother and sister would be freed.
“But
if they do not release our mother and sister we will be ready to
attack them wherever they are,” he said.
Not
the First
If
true, the troops would have again offended local sensibilities about
the treatment of women.
Amnesty
International said they could also have broken international law by
taking hostages.
“I
do not think it is the first time,” Middle East spokeswoman Nicole
Choueiry said of Batawi's case, according to Reuters.
“We
are against it. It is against international law to take civilians and
use them as bargaining chips.”
While
questioning relatives is seen as legitimate among police forces
worldwide, holding them as hostages is not.
The
London-based human rights group said
