US warship rescues eight Iraqis

Agence France-Presse ^ | March 14, 2003

[Indy Pendance]

THE US Navy rescued eight Iraqi sailors from their sinking fishing boat in the Gulf, navy officials aboard the USS Kitty Hawk said.

With US warships in the Gulf and Mediterranean Sea as the US stands on the brink of war with Iraq, sailors from the frigate USS Gary responded to a call for help from the Kaptain Muhamad.

The call was received when the boat was in international waters, Lieutenant Commander Mike Brown, public affairs officer for Battle Force Seventh Fleet, said.

"It was in the process of sinking when they got the Mayday call. By the time they got over there it was capsizing and as they were taking the last people off of the boat, it sank," said Captain Michael Mahon, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15, which belongs to Battle Force Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan.

Two of the Iraqis had to be rescued from the water, said Mahon, who works from the carrier Kitty Hawk.

The Gary, about 15 nautical miles from the fishing boat, initially dispatched a helicopter but the 30m fishing boat was too small for the helicopter to work with, he said.

Instead, the Gary sent out a team of at least four sailors in a Rigid Hull Inflatable (RIB) boat.

He said the RIB team would have been armed with pistols and M-14 rifles.

They searched the sailors before bringing them aboard the rescue boat but there were no reports of weapons being found, Mahon said.

All the fishermen were in good health and their captain asked that they be returned to Iraq, he said.

For now, the sailors would remain aboard the Gary.

The sailors might be returned home through a neighbouring third country, he said.

[2Jedismom]

The sailors might be returned home through a neighbouring third country, he said.

This is from the French press? We should send these guys to France so that France can surrender to them.

[vannrox]

THis sounds "fishy" - No pun intended.
I do not trust Saddam.
I wonder, maybe I'm parinoid, if they might have some bio agent on them.

[MJY1288]

I hope they show those Iraqi fishermen what kind of fire power is floating just off of Iraq's shores :-), I say give them a inflatable boat and send them back to Iraq with a special message :-)

[Steven W.]

THis sounds "fishy" - No pun intended. I do not trust Saddam. I wonder, maybe I'm parinoid, if they might have some bio agent on them

It sounds fishy, yes, and you are definitely paranoid - simply remove the tin foil from your head. A more likely explanation is that the US interdicted this vessel and ended up sinking it in the process whereupon they took these guys captive and will return them through Kuwait.

[First_Salute]

I do hope the captain will be good enough to recon the area beneath his ship.

[MJY1288]

Right Church! Wrong Pew!, I didn't post that remark :-)