Rock-Hurling Prisoners Riot at Main U.S. POW Camp

by rpst

Sun, Apr 13, 2003 1:41PM

UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) - Hurling rocks, bottles filled with sand and wooden stakes, detainees at the only permanent U.S. prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq riot almost daily, military officials said on Sunday.

Anger over slow food lines or disputes between different ethnic groups can spark uprisings -- especially with ringleaders quick to incite riots inside the prison that houses about 6,000 Iraqis under long white open tents, they said.

"Pretty much every day there's a riot. It can get real ugly in there for the MPs (military police)," said Maj. Joel Droba of the 13th Psychological Operations battalion, which broadcasts orders for calm over loudspeakers and interrogates prisoners to weed out instigators.

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2557112

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