MAXINE McKEW: Paul McGeough, thanks for joining us.
Paul, as you've also made clear in your article, Prime Minister Allawi has flatly denied this story.
Why then is the Herald so confident about publishing it?
PAUL McGEOUGH, 'SYDNEY MORNING HERALD' AND 'AGE' FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Well it's a very contentious issue.
What you have is two very solid eyewitness accounts of what happened at a police security complex in a south-west Baghdad suburb.
They are very detailed.
They were done separately.
Each witness is not aware that the other spoke.
They were contacted through personal channels rather than through the many political, religious or military organisations working in Baghdad that might be trying to spin a tale.
And they've laid it out very carefully and very clearly as to what they saw.
MAXINE McKEW: You haven't identified these witnesses but why have they felt free to talk about such an extraordinary story?
PAUL McGEOUGH: Well, they were approached through personal connections and as a result of that, they accepted assurances.
They were guaranteed anonymity, they were told that no identifying material would be published on them and they told what they saw.
Both the Herald and McGeough are sticking to their guns, if you'll forgive the expression.
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