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Cowen: prisoner abuse rankles Bush

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

“In a personal way and as a political leader of his country he expressed his abhorrence at what he described as ‘disgusting and depraved’ behavior,” Cowen told reporters before going into the State Department.
Cowen represented the European Union at a meeting here of the G8 Foreign Ministers.
President Bush told the ministers there were even worse and even more “heinous” pictures from the insides of the prison yet to be seen by the public.
Minister Cowen said Bush was unequivocal in telling the ministers during their 25-minute meeting in the Roosevelt Room that those responsible for the now infamous handling of Iraqi detainees would be punished.
“He made it very clear that he shares the disgust over the depraved behavior that’s been emanating from the prison,” Cowen said.
The minister added that he believed that current efforts to secure a United Nations resolution on the development of a sovereign Iraqi government was promising.
“The United Nations are very determined to provide a means for success. The United Nations will be more involved — has to be more involved,” he added.
Asked if the UN resolution was successful and supported widely, would that clear the way for Irish peace keepers to go to Iraq, the minister responded: “It’s far too early to say — I can’t anticipate anything like that. It’s speculative and isn’t very helpful at the moment.”
Cowen was also asked about Sinn Fein’s criticism of the Irish government’s efforts to have the Colombia Three released from prison.
Mid Ulster MP Martin McGuinness said last week that the lives of Martin McCaulley, James Monaghan, and Niall Connolly were in grave danger. The men were cleared by a Colombian judge of training Marxist rebels in explosives techniques, but were found guilty of traveling on false passports.
Colombia’s attorney general filed an appeal of the non-guilty decision and a judge decided last Thursday that the men must remain in Colombia until the appeal decision is made.
“We don’t determine the legal system in Colombia,” Cowen said. “I don’t accept any criticism from that quarter for our work. We’ve been assiduous to the point of beyond criticism as far as I’m concerned in our efforts [to get the men home].”
A Department of Foreign Affairs official said every effort has been made to have the Colombian authorities allow the men to come home until the appeal process was concluded. The official also said the department had asked the case to be expedited through the appeals process that could take months or perhaps years.
Minister Cowen said no formal discussions took place at the White House concerning the EU/U.S. Summit to be held at Dromoland Castle in County Clare in June.
According to an official at the meeting, President Bush paused for a moment with Cowen before the minister’s departure and said, “Tell the taoiseach I’m looking forward to my visit.”

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