- BERLIN (Reuters) - Scottish
filmmaker Jamie Doran said on Wednesday he hoped his documentary about
an alleged massacre of Taliban prisoners of war last year would lead U.S.
authorities to investigate any involvement of American soldiers.
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- Doran told Reuters before the screening of "Afghan
Massacre: The Convoy of Death" on Germany's ARD television network
that witnesses saw U.S. special forces stand by and watch as Northern Alliance
allies murdered Taliban POWs.
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- A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Berlin rejected claims
made in the film.
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- "The claims are completely false that American soldiers
were involved in the torture, execution and disappearance of Taliban prisoners,"
the spokesman said. "In no way did U.S. troops participate or witness
any human rights violations."
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- Doran, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who covered
the Afghan war for Japanese television, said up to 3,000 Taliban POWs were
killed late last year after surrendering at Kunduz in northern Afghanistan.
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- "This film is about the disappearance and murder
of up to 3,000 Taliban POWs and the involvement of the U.S. special forces
in that disappearance," Doran told Reuters in Berlin after members
of the German parliament invited him to discuss the alleged massacre.
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- "U.S. SOLDIERS STOOD BY"
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- Doran, 46, said witnesses from different ethnic groups
in Afghanistan told him during his year-long investigation into the suspected
war crimes they saw Taliban POWs herded into unventilated shipping containers,
where many died of suffocation, thirst, or starvation.
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- Doran said one witness said about 600 Taliban POWs who
survived the shipment of the containers to the Shiberghan prison 120 km
away were taken to a spot in the desert at Dasht-e-Leili and executed --
in the presence of about 30 to 40 U.S. special forces soldiers.
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- His film includes allegations from witnesses who say
they saw U.S. soldiers taking part in the torture of Taliban POWs at the
Shiberghan prison.
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- Doran said he spent six weeks trying unsuccessfully to
obtain comment from the Pentagon in Washington for his film.
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- "I would like to see the American authorities agree
to a proper investigation," he said. "They have nothing to fear
from the truth. I have the feeling they hope the story will go away.
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- "We establish beyond a reasonable doubt that U.S.
soldiers stood by and did nothing to prevent it (the massacre)," he
added. "I have absolutely no evidence that American troops were involved
in the shooting that took place in the desert."
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- Afghan General Abdul Rashid Dostum has rejected reports
his troops killed up to 1,000 Taliban fighters by taking them to Shiberghan
prison in the airless containers. He said up to 200 died, but they were
already badly injured from fighting.
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- Dostum was a key U.S. ally in late 2001 when he helped
oust the Taliban from northern Afghanistan with the help of U.S. air attacks.
U.S. special forces are still in the north working with leaders to hunt
Taliban and al Qaeda members.
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- Germany's ARD public television network will screen the
55-minute film on Wednesday evening. The documentary has been the focus
of reports in many German magazines and newspapers.
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- Doran said his documentary was screened on commercial
and public networks in Britain, Australia and Italy. Rights have been sold
or are about to sold to networks in 25 territories.
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