http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/printer_1040415.phpBasrah murders implicate some police
AZ ZUBAYR, Iraq (UPI) -- Every couple of weeks in the town of Az Zubayr, a Sunni turns up dead.
The pattern is the same. One day, someone in a police uniform drives up and abducts the victim and a few days later their body is found in the river near a bridge on the northeastern side of town, toward Basrah in southern Iraq.
In some cases, the victim`s name shows up on police prison rolls as having been arrested, suggesting some level of police involvement in the killings, said Maj. Freddie Grounds, 35, commander of the Royal Anglian Regiment`s B Company.
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"I think the (killings) happen more regularly in Basra," said Grounds, whose company oversees Az Zubayr, a town of nearly 500,000 that is contiguous to the city. "When I arrived three months ago there were regular reports of people disappearing in a puff of smoke."