News-Info-Alerts

Re: US 'Considers' Iraq Offer

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: April 08, 2002

"U.S. considering Iraq invitation on missing pilot
By CHARLES ALDINGER
Reuters

WASHINGTON — The United States is considering a proposal from Baghdad to send American investigators to Iraq to determine the fate of the first U.S. pilot shot down in the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

``A formal request was received this week and the State and Defense Departments are considering a reply,'' one of the officials told Reuters.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Speicher's F/A-18 fighter jet was shot down by an Iraqi missile on Jan. 17, 1991, the first day of the war. He was originally listed as killed, but his status was changed in 2001 to missing in action in a highly unusual step.

Iraq says Speicher died in the crash and denied reports that he may be held captive. The letter from Baghdad was sent to Washington, which has no diplomatic relations with Iraq, through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters that the United States received confirmation of the Iraqi invitation through the ICRC on April 5. He declined further comment.

``The matter is being discussed,'' another U.S. official told Reuters.

One senior defense official stressed that the Pentagon wanted to be cautious in sending any team because of demands by Iraq, including that American reporters accompany the group and that investigators include the former head of the U.N. weapons' inspection team in Iraq.

Iraq said in late March that its foreign ministry had officially notified the Geneva-based ICRC of its offer on Speicher.

RUMSFELD CAUTIOUS ON IRAQI STATEMENTS

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters in response to questions this month that it was difficult to believe any statements from the government of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, who Washington accuses of pressing ahead with attempts to develop chemical, biological and nuclear arms.

A U.S. military team searched for Speicher's remains in 1995 but their mission ended inconclusively. The Jacksonville, Florida, resident was 33 when he went missing.

Another U.S. pilot said he saw a fireball when Speicher's jet was hit by a missile on the first night of the war and did not see Speicher eject from the crippled aircraft.

Speicher's flight suit was found at the crash site, but the Pentagon has not confirmed press reports of intelligence information indicating that he might be still alive and held captive.

The Washington Times newspaper in March said U.S. intelligence had new information indicating Speicher was in captivity in Iraq. But Rumsfeld said he was not aware of any new evidence.

An Iraq Foreign Ministry spokesman in Baghdad said in March that the U.S. investigators would have to be accompanied by an American media team for coverage and documentation under the supervision of the ICRC.

It must also include the former leader of the U.N. weapons inspection team in Iraq, Scott Ritter, a vocal critic of American policy on Iraq, the spokesman said."