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Iraqis say U.S. troops fired on civilians
« on: Apr 29th, 2003, 10:42am » |
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Iraqis say U.S. troops fired on civilians
Central Command: Soldiers acted in self-defense
Tuesday, April 29, 2003 Posted: 10:57 AM EDT (1457 GMT)
FALLUJAH, Iraq (CNN) -- Conflicting accounts emerged Tuesday about a clash between the U.S. military and civilians in Iraq that witnesses and Red Cross officials said killed at least 15 Iraqis and wounded up to 53 others.
The shooting in Fallujah -- a farming community about 40 miles west of Baghdad -- broke out around 10 p.m. Monday (2 p.m. EDT) as demonstrators approached members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division -- based at an elementary school -- and demanded that they leave, according to a telecommunications engineer.
U.S. Central Command said that the protesters fired on the soldiers with AK-47s and that the soldiers fired back in self-defense.
Some demonstrators told CNN the soldiers fired first; others said residents threw rocks at the troops when tempers flared.
One U.S. Army sergeant said he shot at what he saw, "and what I saw was targets. Targets with weapons, and they were going to harm me."
"It's either them or me, and I took the shot, sir, and I'm still here talking to you," he said.
A second U.S. soldier said the clash began when some of the protesters started throwing rocks at the soldiers and others started chanting.
"Then others joined in throwing rocks, and others brought weapons to the party," the soldier said. "Then they started firing them -- not just into the air but toward the soldiers on top of the buildings."
The engineer said he's not sure who started shooting first. The confrontation reportedly went on for hours.
The situation at Fallujah is under investigation, Pentagon officials said.
Ex-oil minister surrenders
Meanwhile, Central Command said Tuesday it has Iraq's former oil minister in custody.
The former minister, Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi, surrendered Monday, according to a Central Command statement.
Al-Ubaydi had been an adviser to deposed President Saddam Hussein and is No. 47 on the coalition's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis.
Al-Ubaydi is the six of spades on the deck of cards issued to U.S. troops to help identify fugitive Iraqi leaders.
In an address Monday to the large Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan, President Bush vowed that the United States will help Iraqis create a democratic society. On Thursday, Bush is scheduled to deliver a speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has returned from the Persian Gulf.
White House officials said the president is expected to announce that the combat phase of the Iraq war has ended.
Other developments
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived Tuesday at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a day after defense sources told CNN the United States plans to reduce military operations there. Rumsfeld, who is on a Middle East tour to discuss post-war Iraq and thank regional leaders for their support, planned to hold a town hall-style session with U.S. pilots and crews.
Nassir Hindawi -- the man considered the father of Iraq's biological weapons program -- told CNN on Monday that he believes that program was shut down years ago -- something Saddam's regime claimed -- and that U.S. search teams are unlikely to find evidence of such weapons.
Suspected chemical weapons material in northern Iraq was undergoing further analysis Monday after previous tests gave conflicting results. Initial tests indicated the deadly nerve agent cyclosarin and an unspecified blister agent in a stash of 55-gallon drums, about 130 miles (208 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
U.S. officials said Monday that Tariq Aziz, Saddam's former deputy prime minister who is in U.S. custody, told interrogators he saw Saddam after the initial airstrike of the war, which was intended to kill him. Aziz said he did not see Saddam after the second attempted "decapitation strike" in April, the officials said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned it was too early to say that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction. "I remain confident they will be found," Blair told reporters Monday.
A group of disparate Iraqi factions took a critical step Monday toward building a new Iraqi political structure. Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, overseeing initial Iraqi reconstruction efforts, assured the various political, ethnic and religious groups at a Baghdad meeting that his first goals are to provide security and services and to build jobs. The group agreed to reconvene within a month and select an Iraqi transitional government.
The meeting, under heavy security, took place on Saddam's 66th birthday. Coalition officials have said they do not know whether the former Iraqi leader is alive.
EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.
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