Iraqi envoy's sons accused of assault in Portugal

Iraqi twins suspected of beating up Portuguese teenager.

LISBON // (AFP) —

Portugal on Friday said it may take diplomatic action after the twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador were arrested on suspicion of savagely beating a 15-year-old boy.

The incident happened in the early hours of Wednesday in Ponte de Sor, central Portugal, following a brawl between local people and pupils at a nearby flight school where one of the twins is enrolled, the Portuguese media said.

A source close to the inquiry said the 17-year-old twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador in Lisbon, Saad Mohamed Ridha, were arrested but then released because they had diplomatic immunity.

The boy suffered a fractured skull and other extensive injuries and has been placed in an induced coma, local media said.

Amid rising anger at the attack, the foreign ministry on Friday said the incident was “a case of great seriousness.”

The ministry will take “the necessary and appropriate measures ... if the judicial authorities request it,” the ministry said, pointing to the brothers’ diplomatic immunity.

The Iraqi embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

* Agence France Presse