Iraqi Sunnis Refute Report on US Bribing Scholars

[sabra]

http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2006-01/02/article06.shtml

Iraqi Sunnis Refute Report on US Bribing Scholars

CAIRO, January 2, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Iraqi Sunni leaders on Monday, January 2, refuted as baseless and a clear attempt to undermine anti-occupation powers a report by a leading US newspaper that few Sunni scholars were on the payroll of US companies orchestrating media campaigns to polish the US army's badly bruised image.

"Of course we dismiss this (report) in form and essence, but it also asserts our long-standing position that any credible political process in Iraq is impossible under occupation," Mohamed Ayyash Al-Kubeisy, a spokesman for the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), told IslamOnline.net.

"Any political process could never be held away from pressures by occupation forces," he averred.

Citing current and former employees of a US PR company, the New York Times said Monday that a Pentagon contractor that paid Iraqi newspapers to print positive articles written by American soldiers has also been compensating Sunni religious scholars in return for assistance with its propaganda work.

[Rainscents]

1. They been caught and now, they're in denial!