Posted on 06/25/2003 12:03:49 PM PDT by scotslad
Three of the six British soldiers killed in Iraq were executed after surrendering their weapons, it was claimed today.
The Royal Military Police officers, a sergeant and five corporals, were shot dead after trying to quell a demonstration of Shi'ite Muslims in the town of Majar al Kabir yesterday.
The account of a local man, who tried to save the life of the sergeant in charge of the patrol, backs up Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie McCourt who said today: "This attack was unprovoked. It was murder."
Two of the men died when shooting broke out as the military policemen faced a large crowd of Iraqis angry at the way searches were being conducted by British troops.
The other four were pursued to the local police station where a third soldier was killed in the doorway. The remaining three battled it out with Iraqi gunmen for two hours before giving up their weapons. Then, according to Salam Al Wahele, the men were shot at least twice each in the head. Mr Al Wahele, 30, said: "They had surrendered and had given their weapons to the militiamen. I led a sergeant to a side room and said he could escape by a window but he said he did not want to go and leave the other men behind.
"He left me there and went back to the room where all the men were shot. They may have been killed by their own weapons I think, or AK-47s."
Iraqis claimed the "Red Caps" were attacked after firing into crowds at Majar al Kabir, 90 miles north of Basra.
But British forces today denied they had provoked the attack and gave local leaders 48 hours to hand over the Iraqi men responsible.
The troops, who were part of 156 Provost Company, attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester, were named as:
Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell, from Chessington. He was 41 and single.
Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, married with a daughter. Corporal Paul Graham Long, 24, from Colchester, married. Corporal Simon Miller, 21, Tyne and Wear, single.
Lance Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde, 23, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, single. Lance Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20, from Bala, North Wales.
The wife of Corporal Aston was being comforted by relatives. Anna Aston said of the dead soldiers: "They were there to do a job."
The men were faced with thousands of angry demonstrators at Majar al Kabir.
Witnesses said the violence came after days of tension because of methods used to search civilians for weapons, including the use of sniffer dogs.
"These British soldiers came with their dogs and pointed weapons at women and children," said one Iraqi. "As Muslims, we can't accept dogs at our homes."
The first two of the military policemen were killed on the spot outside the mayor's office in the market place.
The mob then chased the four other members of the patrol to the nearby police station.
There were reports that two dozen Iraqi policemen at the station asked the military policemen to flee with them but the British insisted on staying.
The bodies of the men were recovered at noon today. At least
four Iraqis were reported to have been killed and 18 injured. Senior British officers were today meeting members of Majar al Kabir's council in the nearby city of Amarah to demand the surrender of the Iraqi gunmen responsible.
The soldiers were in the area to train a local Iraqi police force.
Major Bryn Parry-Jones, commanding officer of 156 Provost Company, said: "The loss of six soldiers from such a small, tight-knit unit clearly comes as a dreadful shock.
"We ask our men and women to risk the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country, and it is the sad truth that sometimes that sacrifice comes to pass." Tony Blair, in a hushed and sombre Commons, voiced sympathy for the families and praised the military policemen who had been "doing an extraordinary and heroic job in trying to bring normal and decent life to people in Iraq".
Downing Street declined to be drawn into the claims and counter claims about the tragedy at Majar al Kabir.
Downing Street said, however, that it "did not recognise the picture of events" being painted by those claiming that aggressive house-to-house searches had set off the violence. Security measures to protect troops in Iraq were being stepped up this afternoon.
Up until now British troops had discarded helmets and flak jackets in an attempt to win the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqis.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hinted that up to 5,000 more troops might be sent in. Mr Hoon insisted that the peace-keeping operation in Iraq had not got out of control.
He said: "We have had remarkable success across southern Iraq. We have not had this kind of incident before."
At the Royal Military Police headquarters in Chichester, West Sussex, flags flew at half-mast this afternoon. Soldiers formed a queue to sign a book of condolence.
Two officers emerged from the barracks to lay three wreaths of flowers next to a flower bed near the entrance of the base.
One wreath bore the regiment's motto "Exemplo Ducemus" which means "By Example We Lead."
Colonel John Baber, regimental secretary of the Royal Military Police Association, said: "This is without doubt the blackest day in the history of our long and distinguished regiment.
"The RMP is only a very small regiment of 2,000 soldiers scattered throughout the world so these deaths have hit us very hard indeed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the dead and with our brothers in arms overseas.
"The families of our brave colleagues will have every support we can give them at this terrible time."
The Iraqi National Congress also condemned the attacks on the British troops.
Dr Ahmad Chalabi insisted that the "overwhelming" majority of Iraqi people remained grateful to the coalition for removing Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athist regime.
He said: "We denounce the horrific attacks on British forces and give our deepest sympathies to the families of those soldiers who have died giving hope to a nation that has suffered for so long.
"We strongly urge the occupation authorities to move quickly to empower an Iraqi provisional government in order to fill the political vacuum."
Good idea; let's set the example. You bayonet the infants, and I'll kill the women. After I've had a little fun with them first, of course.
No sense letting them go completely to waste, right?
-archy-/-
Your comments are welcomed here. If you take a bath in all hot water or all cold water, you are going to have trouble.
I share your expression of sympathy for our British friends. I am tired of the "silent majority" letting the thugs run their religion into the ground. If Christian Radicals were repsponsible for "executing" British soldiers, I would open my home to the soldiers and help the find the thugs.
Sounds to me like they were lynched.
And there is the old Ruyard Kipling refrain:
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Just roll on your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your G-d like a soldier.
Any time Arabs make the news, it's a bunch of guys who've boiled out of nearby buildings, waving their fists and shouting. I don't know about all Arabs, but I certainly agree with you about these "fire ant" types.
I've read accounts of American soldiers describing the happiness and joy of ordinary Iraqis. This cannot be faked.
However, we have to remember the significant number of Ba'athists (sp?) that lived off the vast majority through some 30 years of Stalinist terror. They do not want to give this up.
Sharon said it best: There are a finite of these terrorists. We will hunt down every single one of them. (my addition: and kill every last one of them)
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