Government Denies Execution Report

The Information Ministry denied allegations that it had executed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of political detainees in recent weeks. “The Clinton administration and the British government have tried all manner of misleading propaganda against Iraq, and they have failed,” the ministry said in a statement. The denial was uncommon, since the Baghdad government routinely ignores such allegations. State Department spokesman James Foley said that the United States received credible reports that Iraq may have ordered the executions of political detainees in past weeks.