jsalcedo
June 27, 2003, 03:54 PM
LONDON, June 27 (AFP) - The British army has ordered searches for
weapons to be suspended in the area of southern Iraq where six British
military police were killed this week, the Independent newspaper
reported Friday.
The military has agreed to a two-month cooling-off period in Al-Majar
Al-Kabir, a Shiite town in British-controlled southern Iraq, about
mid-way between Baghdad and Iraq's second city of Basra, the paper
said.
The Independent added that the policy may be extended to other areas
while a review takes place on whether the local civilian population is
allowed to carry guns.
The six soldiers Tuesday became the first British troops to die in a
hostile incident since US President George W. Bush declared the Iraq
war over on May 1.
Several London-based newspapers reported that the troops displayed
photographs of their wives and children after surrendering in a last
attempt to save themselves as they were cornered in a police station
by an angry mob.
Ali Al-Ateya, a radio journalist who had followed the British soldiers
as they entered Al-Majar Al-Kabir, told the Daily Express: "They
wanted to show them, 'We are just like you, look we have wives and
children too'.
"They hoped this would save them from the killers but it did not. They
were not shown mercy."
British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in London Thursday that the
killing of the six soldiers may have been triggered by a
misunderstanding over an end to weapons searches.
Hoon said: "I think, certainly, that the fact that we have decided to
call off (weapons) searches on Monday clearly hadn't been properly
understood by the local population, and not communicated properly to
them."
weapons to be suspended in the area of southern Iraq where six British
military police were killed this week, the Independent newspaper
reported Friday.
The military has agreed to a two-month cooling-off period in Al-Majar
Al-Kabir, a Shiite town in British-controlled southern Iraq, about
mid-way between Baghdad and Iraq's second city of Basra, the paper
said.
The Independent added that the policy may be extended to other areas
while a review takes place on whether the local civilian population is
allowed to carry guns.
The six soldiers Tuesday became the first British troops to die in a
hostile incident since US President George W. Bush declared the Iraq
war over on May 1.
Several London-based newspapers reported that the troops displayed
photographs of their wives and children after surrendering in a last
attempt to save themselves as they were cornered in a police station
by an angry mob.
Ali Al-Ateya, a radio journalist who had followed the British soldiers
as they entered Al-Majar Al-Kabir, told the Daily Express: "They
wanted to show them, 'We are just like you, look we have wives and
children too'.
"They hoped this would save them from the killers but it did not. They
were not shown mercy."
British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in London Thursday that the
killing of the six soldiers may have been triggered by a
misunderstanding over an end to weapons searches.
Hoon said: "I think, certainly, that the fact that we have decided to
call off (weapons) searches on Monday clearly hadn't been properly
understood by the local population, and not communicated properly to
them."