U.S. official says torture of Iraqi prisoners will be investigated

Published: 2004-05-17

ROME (CNS) -- As he prepared to meet the Vatican's foreign minister, a top U.S. State Department official told reporters the U.S. government was committed to investigating and prosecuting soldiers accused of torturing prisoners in Iraq. "I think President Bush has spoken very clearly for all Americans on that subject, how appalled he was at that behavior," said John R. Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Bolton spoke to reporters in Rome May 17 before going to the Vatican for a meeting with Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's equivalent of a foreign minister. The meeting came just five days after Archbishop Lajolo told an Italian newspaper that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers was a "more serious blow to the United States than Sept. 11." The archbishop said the scandal would fuel hatred of the West among Arab populations, with possible repercussions for Christians in the region.

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