Two British soldiers detained by Iraqi police

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi police have detained two British soldiers in the southern port city of Basra, following a shooting incident.

"We can confirm that the Iraqi authorities are holding two UK service personnel and we are liaising with the Iraqi authorities on this matter," a British military spokesman told AFP by telephone from Basra.

British forces on Monday surrounded a police station in the centre of Basra after Iraqi police refused to release the two men, an AFP photographer at the scene said Monday.

The British forces were themselves surrounded by demonstrators who threw stones and British soldiers fired warning shots, he said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050919/wl_uk_afp/iraqbritainbasradetain;_

[Kagemusha]

1. Man, that just would NOT happen with US soldiers.

Must be humiliating.

[Ben Ceremos]

2. Murderers

need to be prosecuted no matter what fascist government they kill for.
Kudos to the new Iraqi police force (now with real balls).

[mike_c]

3. exactly....

Welcome to DU!

[BSDRebel]

33. heh

new and IMPROVED real balls.

I've been ashamed for the Iraqis working for the government for not standing up for their dignity. THey keep getting bossed around, doing whatever the American masters tell em to do, and never raise their voice against them. It's about time they grabbed some of the Coalition occupiers and held them accountable for all the free-for-all crimes they do.

[bemildred]

4. Sadr pulls out gunmen from Najaf, Karbala

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- Shiite radical cleric Moqtada Sadr ordered his gunmen to pull out Monday from the Shiite religious centers of Najaf and Karbala in central Iraq.

A source close to the young cleric said the move coincided with annual religious ceremonies in which millions of Shiite worshippers are expected to take part.

---

Security observers believe the move is aimed at foiling possible terrorist attacks during the ceremonies in the two cities, including possible disguise of terrorists as members of the Sadr`s group.

The British command in Basra said British forces arrested the commander of the Sadr`s forces in the area Ahmed Fartoussi and his aide Sayyed Sajad on suspicion of organizing attacks in which nine British soldiers were killed in the past two months.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1049121.php/Sadr_pulls_out_gunmen_from_Najaf_Karbala

[bemildred]

5. British arrest two al-Sadr militiamen

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The British army in Basra said it arrested two prominent members of a militia affiliated with outspoken Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose armed followers quickly took to the streets of the southern city to demand their release.

Sheik Ahmed Majid Farttusi and Sayyid Sajjad were detained in an early morning raid and are accused of being involved in attacks that killed at least nine soldiers, according to a statement from coalition forces.


http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050919/REPOSITORY/509190348/1013/NEWS03link

[Voice1]

6. More info at following link

Thought you might like to see this link for more information on this, pictures of 2 British undercover soldiers have also been released:
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=63763

[bemildred]

8. I did find the bit about them being undercover British agents interesting.

Still waiting to see what that was about.

[bemildred]

9. Two killed in Iraq firefight

British forces and demonstrators exchanged gunfire in the southern city of Basra Monday leaving two civilians dead after two British men were arrested for allegedly gunning down an Iraqi police officer.

Basra, Iraq's second largest city and 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Baghdad, is headquarters for the 8,500 British troops deployed the south of the country.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3144351,00.html

[Voice1]

12. Some strange reports coming out

There are all sorts of conflicting reports at the moment, some of the reports seem to be getting the two incidents mixed up, between the setting British tanks on fire, and British troops shooting at Iraqi police.

The BBC earlier reported that following the soldiers' arrests, the British military launched a rescue mission, and even sent in helicopters as well, but the Iraqis wouldn't hand them over.

One of their reporters also said that the 2 arrested were dressed in traditional Arab dress, were carrying foreign documentation, and had explosives and weapons in their vehicle.

They haven't mentioned it since, it was over an hour ago I heard that.

Seems there was something very secret going on there.

[bemildred]

14. Yeah, I think there was some sort of false flag going on.

You can tell the MOD is pained by the whole thing.
A bit of propaganda in the making.

[Voice1]

16. Just heard on the BBC

The tanks that were set on fire were on their way to rescue the soldiers arrested by Iraqi police.

[bemildred]

18. I guessed that, not giving too good an account of ourselves here, so far.

This one bears watching. I am wondering if this was related
to the detainment of the two al Mahdi guys and al Sadr's withdrawal
of troops today. Maybe al Sadr is trying to avoid being caught
up in this boondoggle.

[Voice1]

10. The MoD is keeping quiet on that

"No comment" seems to be the message from the MoD on this incident. They claim they are "investigating".

[bemildred]

7. Brit soldiers in Basra tank inferno

Dramatic pictures have emerged of a British army tank being pelted with petrol bombs in the Iraqi city of Basra.

The tank is seen coming under attack, apparently from petrol bombs. A crowd gathers around as it tries to reverse away from trouble.

The film then shows one soldier climbing out of the tank's hatch and jumping clear of it as the crowd pelt him with stones.

Amazingly, Ministry of Defence sources have said that none of the soldiers in the tanks was seriously injured.

http://www.itv.com/news/world_714603.html

[0007]

39. Are those legs sticking out of the tank?

[bemildred]

41. All I see is great big pixels. nt

[bemildred]

11. UK soldiers held in Iraq

The TV pictures showed a soldier escaping from the top of one tank and attempting to get away.

The man disappeared from the camera shot behind the vehicle before apparently being set upon by the surrounding mob.

---

The Ministry of Defence refused to comment on reports that the men were working undercover and said it is not yet known why they have been held.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that two military personnel were detained by Iraqi authorities earlier today".

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005430500,00.html

[bemildred]

13. Police detain undercover British soldiers

IRAQI police have detained two British soldiers believed to be working undercover in the southern port city of Basra following a shooting incident, British military and Iraqi security officials said overnight.

---

A Basra policeman, who declined to be named, said the two British servicemen detained were undercover soldiers, wearing Arab dress, who allegedly fired at a police patrol before being forced to stop.

Pictures taken at the scene where the men were detained showed their car, a plain white Nissan, with its front doors wide open.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16661037-38201,00.html

Somehow, the term "false flag operation" comes to mind.

[bemildred]

15. Meltdown in Basra

Two British undercover soldiers were arrested in by Iraqi authorities in Basra today after exchanging gunfire with Iraqi police and killing one, officials said.Brit_soldier_basra The arrests prompted British troops to send a military patrol to the police station where the soldiers are being held which then led to a riot, during which two British tanks were set on fire, according to witnesses.





An Iraqi official told the Reuters news agency that the two British soldiers, who were travelling in a civilian car, were detained this morning. The official said he had been informed by the British military that they were undercover soldiers. "They were driving a civilian car and were dressed in civilian clothes when a shooting took place between them and Iraqi patrols," he said. "We are investigating and an Iraqi judge is on the case questioning them." A Basra police source said the two men, who he said were wearing Arab costume, had opened fired at a police patrol when they were asked to stop. Photographs of the British soldiers showed them with light beards. One of them was wearing bandage around his head. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed that two British soldiers were in Iraqi custody but said he was unsure of the circumstances of their arrest. "We are urgently liaising with the Iraqis to find out what is happening," said the spokesman, who declined to comment on reports of the events that followed the arrests. Ismail al-Waili, head of Basra's Security Committee, told the Associated Press that once news of the gun battle spread, British soldiers surrounded the building where men are being held and a crowd quickly gathered.Brit_tank_basra Reports and television pictures showed the crowd pelting the British vehicles with stones and setting two tanks on fire. Soldiers could be seen scrambling out of the tanks.

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/index.php?id=P2377

[Voice1]

19. Protesters don't want soldiers freed

BBC now reporting there is a huge crowd of protesters outside the place where they're being held, they're saying they don't want the police to release them.

Sources have apparently told the BBC the Iraqis intend to prosecute, and aren't going to hand them over.

This must have been a false flag, why else would the British military be so desperate for the Iraqis to turn them over, and the Iraqis so unwilling to hand them over?

[bemildred]

20. Yep. nt

[wordout]

42. Iraqi police should've dressed up as British soldiers and shot em.

post the video on ogrish.

[bemildred]

43. I dunno about that, but it did occur to me that having their

whereabouts "unknown" could be useful.

[warrens]

17. Bwahahahahaha

Poodle-boy is going to be lucky if he can appear in public ever again in England. He'll be like our unelected Punk, reduced to photo-ops with the brainwashed, hiding behind armed guards.

[bemildred]

21. WaPo says they are accused of planting bombs.

BASRA, Iraq, Sept. 19 -- Heavy clashes erupted Monday between Iraqi police and British soldiers based in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, witnesses said.

The clashes are the latest in surging tensions in Basra, a Shiite-dominated city that had long been one of Iraq's calmest. Attacks have targeted British and Americans there.

Monday's clashes stemmed from the arrest by Iraqi police on Sunday of two Britons, whom Iraqi police accused of planting bombs.

A Western military spokesman in Basra confirmed "an ongoing disturbance" in the city on Monday but said Iraqi and British force were working together to try to quell it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091900572.html?nav=rss_world

[Voice1]

22. So that's why Iraqis are so angry

No wonder there's a huge crowd outside that police station and they burned British tanks

[bemildred]

23. Yeah, appears the al Mahdi types are raising hell too. nt

[bemildred]

24. Fighting in the city continued into Monday evening,

and witnesses saw a British armored vehicle in flames after it was allegedly set on fire by Iraqi police. Police convoys circulated in downtown Basra, urging residents to help stop the British from freeing the Britons.

Earlier, gunmen loyal to a radical Shiite Muslim cleric attacked the house of Basra's governor to press demands for the release of two prominent members of the cleric's militia who were arrested Sunday by British forces.

The house of Mohammed Musabah, a 43-year-old technocrat who runs Basra, came under attack early Monday from rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds after a day of instability. There were no reports of injuries.

More from WaPo.

[Ben Ceremos]

28. There have been several

reports of Iraqi citizens claiming to have seen American troops planting bombs which later were claimed by occupation authorities to have been "suicide bombers".< I am afraid I can only go on memory here as I don't have any links to support my statements. I do hope someone can cover me and provide the links (?).> I doubt the British are innocent of such tactics, as Blair is the UK version of the liar Bush. I hope the Iraqi police and court system prosecute these terrorists and that this sets up the exit plan for the occupation forces.

[BSDRebel]

32. intentional bombs?

If this is true, it would completely demolish the case that we're morally more correct than the insurgents because we don't intentionally target civilians.

Not that I believed that crap for a second. I know my history and I know what the U.S. has done in Latin America, with the School of the Americas, and Death squads, but there is still a lot of sheep that think that some how, some way, in some magical way, we're better than the insurgents morally.

no we're not. We're just as dirty.

[MisterP]

37. kick

[bemildred]

25. Reuters:

Mohammed al-Abadi, an official in the Basra governorate, said the two men looked suspicious to police.

"A policeman approached them and then one of these guys fired at him. Then the police managed to capture them," Abadi told reporters.

"They refused to say what their mission was. They said they were British soldiers and (suggested) to ask their commander about their mission," he added.

Reuters Television footage showed the tank trying to reverse away from trouble after it came under attack, apparently from petrol bombs as a crowd gathered around it.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-09-19T154520Z_01_SPI946735_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-BRITONS.xml&archived=False

[KellyW]

26. Ok this is a bad as it could be

To start with, there is no such thing as an undercover solider. Soldiers, by definition wear a uniform and do not seek to conceal their identities or combatant status.

Someone at the UK MOD has some explaining to do. Unfortunately, to the people in Iraq it won’t matter what story they come up with.

Now this is what the story is: They have been planting bombs to kill Shia pilgrims and blame it on the Sunnis. In fact, all of the horrible bombings over the last few months were the work of agent-provocateurs, working for the occupying forces. It doesn’t matter if this story is true or not, it is being repeated by 10s of thousands of Iraqis as each hour passes.

The only upside is that maybe the Iraqi government gains some stature in the eyes of the people for standing firm, assuming the do stand firm.

[bemildred]

27. Yes, that story has been out there for a while.

And this will give credence to it.

[Ben Ceremos]

29. Perhaps

"credence" is exactly what the 2 captured British terrorists are providing?

[bemildred]

38. I doubt they want to give credence to the story that occupation forces are

kill Shi'ia and blaming it on the Sunni resistance.

[Sunkiss BlueStar]

30. Sad and Confusing but

We're making PROGRESS:sarcasm:

[BSDRebel]

31. What the hell

were British soldiers doing undercover, with bombs?

There is no explanation. That's illegal. They should be prosecuted for war crimes for violating the Geneva Conventions' rules mandating that foreign occupiers must remain in uniform.

I think these guys were probably involved in British secret OPS. They got caught.

[maddezmom]

34. BBC now reporting they were probably intelligence officers

one was dressed as a cleric...trying to get information on "al-Sadr militants" that may have infiltrated the Iraqi police force.

~~~~~

for the record, just reporting what I'm hearing.

[Supersedeas]

36. impersonating a cleric -- freedom is on the march

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. Sky News just claimed tanks have broken down the wall of the jail

and freed the men, according to 'reports'. No web link yet.

On edit: Now confirmed by Iraqi interior ministry, Sky says. Sky also claims about 150 Iraqis escaped at the same time. Hey, that'll improve relations between the Iraqi authorities and the British. :sarcasm:

[pinniped]

40. Hey, Iraq is a sovereign contry so they will just have to wait.

The "sovereign" napkin was passed, I saw a picture of it.