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BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi and coalition forces were searching for the five Westerners kidnapped three days ago from near the Kuwaiti border by militiamen dressed in police uniforms. Four US citizens and an Austrian, all working as security guards for a Kuwaiti company, were abducted on Thursday while they were escorting a 49-truck convoy near the southern Iraqi town of Safwan. "The search continues and we have still not been able to locate them," said Mohammed Ali al-Mussawi, chief of operations at the police headquarters of Basra, the southern Iraqi city. On Saturday Mussawi said the police had identified...

MIDI - MELLOW YELLOW I had been there at Safwan...and I had helped them decide Yes, I had been right there at Safwan...it had been quite a ride I'm one important fellow...I'm one important fellow...I'm one important fellow I was working with Schwarzkopf...and he was working with me Yes, I had been working with Schwarzkopf...check the film and you'll see I'm one important fellow...I'm one important fellow...I'm one important fellow I was there at the table...when it was time to proceed Yes, I had there at the table...they all followed my lead I'm one important fellow...I'm one important fellow...I'm...

I just watched the rerun of O'Reilly's 2001 interview with Kerry discussing the need to invade Iraq. In that interview, Kerry said the following: "I mean, I was in Safwan. I went there when the signing of the armistice took place at the end of the war." I've watched the video of the cease-fire signing at Safwan. It was still in a combat zone. I don't remember seeing anyone but military officers. Can anyone provide additional insight, or has Kerry lied again.

The free press meets free people. Safwan, IraqIT IS ESSENTIAL, during times of war, to be in good company. And to that end, fellowship prospects improved markedly last week around the Kuwait City Hilton. After 36 sleepless hours, I had just stolen three or four when my phone rang. "Hello Matt," said the voice on the other end. "It's Christopher Hitchens. I'm here. Did I wake you?" Yes you did, I told him, though I wasn't about to turn down a social call from one of our finest magazine scribblers and seekers of truth. "Good," he said. "I'll give you...

Safwan: What happened to the eyes of Iraqi children? Hundreds of eyes, round with fear, watch as the convoy sent by the Kuwaiti Red Crescent carrying food aid to the inhabitants of Safwan in southern Iraq entered the city. Fear is the word. It controls the moves of these southern children, and settles heavily like a gloomy mantle enveloping the city. Fear made those hungry little mouths tongue-tied, unable even to beg for a few crumbs to sustain those frail bodies, hardly alive. When I asked men what they thought of the developments, they furtively looked around before asking: "Are...

UMM QASR, 27 March 2003 - A day after US/UK forces entered the residential area of this small town, with a population of 45,000, local Iraqis here told Arab News that they are still hungry and thirsty. And as night fell machine-gun fire and mortar shells could be heard in the surrounding areas, suggesting that US/UK troops still have not "secured" the deep port as the Western media has reported. The only food and rations getting to the people are coming to Safwan, some 17 kilometers away from the port on the Kuwait-Iraq border. They are being delivered by the...

SAFWAN, Iraq -- As the first aid convoys rolled into southern Iraq on Wednesday, a cheer went up from several hundred Safwan villagers who grabbed hold of latches, jumped on running boards and banged the sides of 18-wheeler trucks. But even before the drivers opened their doors, several dozen of the assembled turned the cheers into a song: "We give our blood and hearts to Saddam!" they chanted, dancing, the volume growing as defiance swept the crowd. When the lumbering trucks swung around and their back doors opened, a near-riot erupted as villagers grabbed, scratched, ripped and tore one another's...

"SAFWAN, Iraq. Waving white flags and raising their hands to the sky, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq -- and some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. One Marine traffic control unit manning an intersection in southern Iraq accepted at least 45 soldiers' surrender by sundown Friday" -- MSNBC, March 21. - - - "American forces shot down at least two of the incoming [Iraqi] missiles" -- Patrick E. Tyler, New York Times, March 21. - - - "The militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad urged Iraqis on Friday to...

Iraqis seethe as coalition forces advance in south By Michael Georgy SAFWAN, Iraq, Mar 23 (Reuters) - Civilians in southern Iraq are beginning to wonder if the U.S. and British troops who have captured their towns are liberators or occupiers. "I swear it was better when Saddam was here," said Jamal Kathim, as his angry friends nodded in agreement. Iraqis in the predominantly Shi'ite south had high hopes for stability at the start of a four-day-old war that U.S. President George W. Bush said would liberate them. Instead many are struggling to find food, water and medicine when they leave...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/23/03 - Baghdad, burning trenches, Umm Qasr,Basra,Khormal BREAKING: IRAQI MISSILES SEEN IN BAGHDAD -- Iraqi war crime BREAKING: Baghdad, Saddam burns trenches- Iraqi war crime BREAKING: Baghdad, Saddam centers "orphanage" in military complex- Iraqi war crime BREAKING: Battle of Umm Qasr, 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) BREAKING: Umm Qasr - Iraqis, freed by the USA BREAKING: Battle for Basra, 3/4 Lima company BREAKING: Basra, Freed Iraqis, welcome the British 2nd Royal Tank Regiment BREAKING: al Nasiriyah - Battle by US 3rd Army BREAKING: Safwan -freed Iraqis BREAKING: al-Ratka oilfield - Iraqi war...

Yesterday afternoon a truck drove down a side road in the Iraqi town of Safwan, laden with rugs and furniture. Booty or precious possessions? In a day of death, joy and looting, it was hard to know. As the passengers spotted European faces, one boy grinned and put his thumb up. The other nervously waved a white flag. The mixed messages defined the moment: Thank you. We love you. Please don't kill us. US marines took Safwan at about 8am yesterday. There was no rose-petal welcome, no cheering crowd, no stars and stripes. Afraid that the US and Britain will...

Laughter and tears as troops liberate village By Dexter Filkins, Safwan March 23 2003 Happiness and dread rose together yesterday from this desolate border village, where some of the first Iraqis liberated by American and British troops found the joy of their deliverance muted by the fear that it was too good to last. As hundreds of coalition troops swept in here just after dawn, the heartache of a town that has felt the hardest edges of Saddam Hussein's rule seemed to burst forth, with villagers running into the streets to celebrate in a kind of grim ecstasy, laughing and...

<p>SAFWAN, Iraq (CNN) --Videotape shot by Kuwaiti TV crews Friday showed about a dozen villagers, most of them adult men, warmly welcoming American soldiers who arrived and briefly took up positions in the village of Safwan.</p> <p>The men, a few children, and one woman spoke to at least three soldiers who got out of their vehicles. Many shook the soldiers' hands or embraced them, and some kissed the soldiers' cheeks.</p>

Yesterday afternoon a truck drove down a side road in the Iraqi town of Safwan, laden with rugs and furniture. Booty or precious possessions? In a day of death, joy and looting, it was hard to know. As the passengers spotted European faces, one boy grinned and put his thumb up. The other nervously waved a white flag. The mixed messages defined the moment: Thank you. We love you. Please don't kill us. US marines took Safwan at about 8am yesterday. There was no rose-petal welcome, no cheering crowd, no stars and stripes. Afraid that the US and Britain will...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/22/03 - Umm Qasr taken, Basra battles, Safwan - Iraqis cheer US liberators, Al Faw taken, Baghdad - Evil becomes dust, Mosul and Kirkuk - explosions, Convoy Chamchamal, Kuwait City - Incomings Analyzed, Amazing surrender @ DMZ, STRIKE VIDEO BREAKING: Umm Qasr taken BREAKING: Basra battles BREAKING: Safwan - Iraqis cheer US liberators BREAKING: Al Faw taken BREAKING: Baghdad - Evil becomes dust BREAKING: Mosul and Kirkuk - explosions BREAKING: Convoy BREAKING: Chamchamal BREAKING: Kuwait City - Incomings Analyzed BREAKING: Amazing surrender @ DMZ BREAKING: STRIKE VIDEO BREAKING: Pictures you won't see...

'I want to say hello to Bush, to shake his hand' Yesterday afternoon a truck drove down a side road in the Iraqi town of Safwan, laden with rugs and furniture. Booty or precious possessions? In a day of death, joy and looting, it was hard to know. As the passengers spotted European faces, one boy grinned and put his thumb up. The other nervously waved a white flag. The mixed messages defined the moment: Thank you. We love you. Please don't kill us. US marines took Safwan at about 8am yesterday. There was no rose-petal welcome, no cheering crowd,...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/21/03 Pt2 - Road to Baghdad,Battle at Umm Qasr, Al-Faw Peninsula,Safwan,Az Bayer,Iraqis surrender Disguised BREAKING: Start of the Air War BREAKING: Road to Baghdad BREAKING: Battle at Umm Qasr BREAKING: Al-Faw Peninsula - Iraqis surrender BREAKING: Safwan - Iraqis surrender BREAKING: Az Bayer.- Iraqis surrender BREAKING: Iraqis surrender Disguised ========= Baghdad ========= In Baghdad, Saddam's complex in central Baghdad. ========= Kalak ========= At , Iraqi soldiers and their defense at the Great Zab river. ========= Kuwait-Iraq border On the Road to Baghdad ========= Heroes on a US Cobra fire at Iraqi positions....

SAFWAN, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Marines tore down Saddam Hussein in a screeching pop of metal and bolts Friday, rigging winch chains to the giant street portraits in newly taken southern Iraq. Crowds of men and boys watched, briefly joining Maj. David ``Bull'' Gurfein in a new cheer. ``Iraqis, Iraqis, Iraqis!'' Gurfein yelled, pumping his fist in the air. ``We wanted to send a message that Saddam is done,'' said Gurfein, a New York native in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. ``People are scared to show a lot of emotion. That's why we wanted to show them this time we're...

SAFWAN, Iraq, March 21 — Waving white flags and raising their hands to the sky, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered to coalition forces in southern Iraq — and some even tried to give themselves up to Western journalists. One Marine traffic control unit manning an intersection in southern Iraq accepted at least 45 soldiers’ surrender by sundown Friday. ... In the town of Safwan, Iraqi civilians eagerly greeted the 1st Marine Division. One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing at the sky,...

U.S. Troops Seize Towns in Southern Iraq By RAVI NESSMAN and ELLEN KNICKMEYER .c The Associated Press SAFWAN, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Marines took over the shrapnel-covered town of Safwan in southern Iraq on Friday while to the southeast, U.S. and British forces seized the strategic Gulf port of Umm Qasr, military sources said. ``Umm Qasr has been overwhelmed by the U.S. Marines and now is in coalition hands,'' Adm. Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff, said in London. British forces in the area were dealing with ``significant numbers'' of Iraqi troops who had surrendered, Boyce said, but...