Saddam\'s torture man works as doctor in Britain

A doctor involved in horrific torture by Saddam Hussain\'s henchmen is working in British hospitals. In an astonishing immigration scandal, border officials have allowed the suspected war criminal to treat thousands of British patients. Dr Mohammad Kasim Al Byati was given a permit to work as a doctor in the NHS by the Labour government in 2004. Checks failed to uncover his history of working for the notorious Iraqi Intelligence Agency, which ran the country in a reign of terror during the Saddam years. His job was to patch up torture victims so they could be subjected to more appalling treatment. In 2007, Al Byati contacted the Home Office to confess to his horrific past so that he could claim asylum. But, incredibly, this did not prevent him from carrying on earning tens of thousands of pounds working at a hospital in Wales. Even now, despite his file being referred to a specialist war crimes unit, he remains cleared by the General Medical Council, and has been working in the West Midlands. The details have only now been unearthed by Home Secretary Theresa May, who was ‘horrified\' to discover what had been taking place. She has ordered an urgent inquiry, and is planning changes to the rules to stop any similar cases slipping through the net. There will also be a shake-up of the UK Border Agency war crimes unit. Whitehall sources say the case shows the total shambles which UKBA became under Labour. At its heart lies the Human Rights Act and a little-known EU directive which permitted the doctor to work even when his past was known. It follows the controversy earlier this week of UKBA failing to stop a banned extremist, Raed Salah, from entering the country. Under Saddam Hussain\'s brutal regime countless Iraqis were tortured, maimed and imprisoned. Favoured methods used by his secret police included eye-gouging; piercing of hands with an electric drill; suspension from a ceiling; electric shock; rape and other forms of sexual abuse; beating of the soles of feet; mock executions; extinguishing cigarettes on the body and acid baths. A case history shows that Al Byati arrived in Britain on a six-month visitor visa in January 2000, nine years after the end of the first Gulf War which left Saddam in power. Officials twice extended his leave to stay so he could undertake clinical attachments as a doctor. In January 2004, by which time Iraq had been invaded again, a work permit was granted and he was employed at a hospital in Wolverhampton until February 2007. At this point, Al Byati claimed asylum. In his witness statement he says he worked for the Iraqi Intelligence Agency. In March 2007, while being interviewed by UKBA, Al Byati stated he patched people up after torture and was aware that the victims were returning to torture, but did not feel he could do anything about it. From / Gulf News