BAGHDAD, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said Thursday a secret prison near Baghdad was used only for the worst criminals, and claims of torture are exaggerated.
Earlier, several Sunni Muslims had claimed they were tortured in secret prisons operated by the new Shiite majority Iraqi government and military.
Defiantly waving the passports of inmates, Jabr said: "Those are your Arab brothers that came here to kill your sons."
He said one detainee who had been reported as paralyzed was that way before his arrival at the facility and had been paid to set off bombs.
"They gave the handicapped $1,000, and he was just a beggar," Jabr said.
He said there had been 170 detainees in the basement bunker of a museum in Madaen, a mixed city of Shiites and Sunnis south of Baghdad, and that a judge was in charge at the facility and was dealing with each case.
Seven of the prisoners showed signs of torture, and Jabr said the government would investigate fully with U.S. assistance.
