Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The Truth About Iraq IV: Fern Holland

Fern Holland probably never met Anwar Bahjat, but like her she shared a determination to improve the lot of women in Iraq. And died at the hands of assassins.

Holland, a 33-year-old lawyer and human rights worker from Oklahoma, was murdered on a desolate road near Karbala in March 2004 along with Robert J. Zangas, a press officer and former Marine Corps officer, and their translator.

The mystery of who killed Holland and Zangas, who were the first Coalition Provisional Authority employees to die in Iraq, has not been solved.

But now a second mystery has emerged: What happened to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash issued by coalition authorities to Holland and Robert J. Zangas? Financial records show that the money may have ended up in the hands of American reconstruction officials who were part of a bribery, kickback and theft ring.

The New York Times has lots more here.

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