PM's aide: Iraq to probe alleged US massacre

Iraq will open investigation into the alleged summary execution of 10 Iraqis, including four women and five children, by US forces in 2006, an aide to Iraq's prime minister said on Friday. "Taking into consideration the new information from Wikileaks, we will open an investigation about the case and we will follow all legal steps to obtain the rights for our victims," said Ali Mussawi, media advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. A leaked April 2006 US diplomatic cable released last week by whistleblower website Wikileaks quoted a letter from Philip Alston, who was at the time Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. According to the cable, Alston wrote that according to information in his possession US forces had executed 10 Iraqis at their home in Balad, north of Baghdad, during a raid on March 15, 2006, after which an air strike destroyed the house. "I have received various reports indicating that at least 10 persons... were killed during the raid" on March 15, 2006, Alston wrote. After shots were fired as US forces approached the home in Salaheddin province, a confrontation ensued, and "troops entered the house, handcuffed all residents and executed all of them," he wrote.