Greens leader Bob Brown is putting pressure on Prime Minister John Howard to respond to allegations that Iraq's Interim Prime Minister shot dead six people last month. Iyad Allawi has been accused of shooting seven Iraqi insurgents, killing six of them, in the week leading up to the handover of power from the United States last month.

Two unnamed people alleged to have seen the shootings have told Australian journalist Paul McGeough that Dr Allawi shot the insurgents in a courtyard adjacent to a maximum security cell in Baghdad. Dr Allawi's office has denied the claims. Senator Brown says he was horrified by the report.

He says he cannot understand why a man with Dr Allawi's history was appointed as Iraq's Interim Prime Minister. He says Mr Howard needs to explain why Australian troops are currently in Dr Allawi's service. "Allawi is a blood curdling individual," Senator Brown said. "He helped Saddam Hussein get into power, then turned on him.
"Saddam Hussein went after him and he's now in a position to wreak his own trail of havoc in Iraq."

A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Australian authorities have no knowledge of the allegations.
He says if Fairfax has any substantial information, it should take it to the Iraqi authorities for investigation. But Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd, says Mr Downer should treat the allegations seriously.

"Such reports appear to me to be unbelievable," Mr Rudd said. "But because they are written by a credible journalist, Mr Downer's responsibility is to get the truth from the Australian Embassy in Baghdad and from the government of the United States. "It's important that these matters are clarified."

A written statement to Mr McGeough says Dr Allawi has not visited the prison and does not carry a gun. But McGeough stands by his claims. He says he cannot name the witnesses but says neither knows the other has spoken to him about the allegations. "The Prime Minister is said to have responded that they deserved worse than death, that each was responsible for killing more than 50 Iraqis each and at that point he is said to have pulled a gun and proceeded to aim at and shoot all seven," McGeough told ABC TV's Lateline.

"Six of them died. The seventh, according to one witness, was wounded in the chest [but] according to the other witness was wounded in the neck and presumed to be dead." Mr McGeough works for Fairfax newspapers and his claims have been published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1156199.htm;Govt should explain Allawi claims: Brown