News-Info-Alerts

Re: US Soldiers Publicly Executed??

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: March 27, 2003

"Thu 27 Mar 2003
Mr Blair received confirmation of the men’s deaths as he arrived in Washington for talks with US President George Bush.
printer friendly    email articleOutrage over bodies footage

BY FIONA MACGREGOR
IMAGES of two dead British soldiers broadcast on Arab TV have been described as "deplorable" by senior military commanders.

Chief of UK forces in the Gulf, Air Marshal Brian Burridge, said he was "shocked and appalled" at the decision by Arab satellite TV network al-Jazeera to broadcast graphic footage of the bodies of the two Desert Rats who had been missing since Sunday.

He described the move as a "flagrant breach" of the Geneva Convention, and Prime Minister Tony Blair today also expressed his "horror" at the move.

The footage showed the two dead soldiers, who went missing in fighting around the town of Al Zubayr, 15 miles outside the second city of Basra, on Sunday.

They had been classified as missing after their Land Rover was ambushed on Sunday.

Their bodies were shown spread-eagled on their backs in a dusty road near their vehicle.

One of the soldiers had a massive bullet wound in his chest; the other’s neck and upper chest were covered in blood.

The footage, which lasted less than 30 seconds, also showed people climbing over the Land Rover . One man shifted one of the bodies around with his foot, and both men’s faces can be seen clearly during the film.

The footage, taken just minutes after the men had been killed, has led to fears they may have been deliberately executed for propaganda purposes.

It is believed the soldiers were the victims of an ambush and had been dragged from their vehicle to be shot.

The shocking images came after Pentagon officials claimed US soldiers had been the victims of public executions .

Al-Jazeera has also broadcast footage of what it said were two UK PoWs, but there was no confirmation the men were British.

At a briefing this morning, Air Marshal Burridge said TV station al-Jazeera’s decision to show the footage was "deplorable". He added: "All media must be aware of the limits of taste and decency."

Mr Blair received confirmation of the men’s deaths as he arrived in Washington for talks with US President George Bush.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said: " The Prime Minister’s reaction was horror, both at the deaths and at the fact that the pictures were being shown."

British military spokesman Group Captain Al Lockwood said last night: "Although formal identification has yet to be carried out, it is probable that these are the two personnel classified as lost and missing.

"Next of kin have been informed that the soldiers have now been confirmed missing, believed killed. "

Commanders at the British Army Field HQ in Southern Iraq also spoke of their disgust at footage.

Spokesman Colonel Chris Vernon said: "We absolutely abhor the decision of al-Jazeera television to show dead prisoners of war. It totally contravenes all of the conventions of war and we condemn it completely."

A British military source said: "Such barbarism reflects the true nature of the Iraqi regime. "

It was the third time in four days that shocking footage of Allied soldiers, captured or killed, had been shown on TV.

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said: "This is another blatant example of the depths to which this regime is prepared to sink.

"Just as they have no compunction about murdering their own people in their tens of thousands, their depravity knows no bounds in their treatment of prisoners of war.

"They have placed themselves beyond the bounds of civilised reaction. They are war criminals and they should face the consequences."

At least three US soldiers may have been executed in public by Iraqi troops, the Pentagon has claimed.

The soldiers, army mechanics, were shot through the forehead as they tried to surrender in Nasiriyah. US officials said the men were unarmed and had their hands above their heads when the executions took place in front of local onlookers.

The claims were made today as officials said they were still gathering evidence to prove that claim.

Marine Corps General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told CNN’s Larry King Live "They [the Iraqis] have executed prisoners of war," said in an apparent reference to 12 Army troops captured or killed on Sunday when their supply convoy was ambushed near Nassiriyah in southern Iraq.

Iraqi television subsequently showed five US soldiers being interrogated, as well as photographs of up to seven bloodied corpses, which Iraq claimed were American troops.

Some of the bodies appeared to have bullet wounds to the forehead, suggesting possible execution.

Yesterday, defence officials said they had received some initial intelligence that the US soldiers were killed as they attempted to surrender .

But officials later said an investigation into the case was ongoing and the soldiers were officially considered missing, not dead.

"We are saying that some of the 12 soldiers ambushed near Nassiriyah may have been executed," one defence official told Reuters early on Thursday. "We’re still investigating."

 ©2003 scotsman.com"