Posted on 04/10/2004 10:44:41 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
AGHDAD, Iraq, April 10 — A group of armed Iraqi insurgents, their faces masked, claimed on Saturday to be holding 30 foreigners hostage and threatened to kill them unless the United States halted its offensive in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad.
In a film from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that was shown repeatedly on Arabic television, a masked man representing the group said: "We have Japanese, Bulgarian, Israeli, American, Spanish and Korean hostages. Their numbers are 30."
He added: "If America doesn't lift its blockade of Falluja, their heads will be cut off."
The tape did not show any hostages, however, and it was not possible to confirm that such a group was being held. But several foreigners are known to be missing, putting intense pressure on Japan and other American allies.
In another tape broadcast on television, a man speaking with an American accent was shown being held in the back seat of a car by a masked gunman. He said his convoy had been attacked, and in the background black smoke blossomed thickly into the air.
The gunmen, their faces covered with Arab head scarves, jumped into the vehicle's seats around him and sped off, one of them saying into the camera: "We swear to God, we are not afraid of death. We are going to heaven."
On Thursday, kidnappers seized three Japanese citizens and threatened to kill them on Sunday if Japan did not withdraw its forces from Iraq.
In Kuwait, an associate of Iraq's leading Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, denounced the kidnapping of the Japanese as a terrorist act and demanded their immediate release, Reuters reported. The associate, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Mohri, said in a sermon at Friday Prayer that was carried by newspapers on Saturday, "This ugly picture hurts Islam and Muslims as it gives a bad impression about our Islamic religion."
Ayatollah Mohri also denounced what he called the chaos in Iraq caused by the followers of an outlawed Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr.
"We condemn the acts of sabotage, chaos and takeover of public property by a group that unfortunately is part of one of Iraq's biggest and best known families," he said.
While the American troops have raided Falluja, a center of anti-Americanism, coalition troops have also been battling Shiite militias in the south. The two-pronged battles represent the most extensive combat since May, when President Bush declared that the major military operations to topple Saddam Hussein had been completed.
On Saturday the United States deputy director for coalition operations, Brig. Gen Mark Kimmitt, called on Sunni militants to honor a cease-fire in Falluja, where some of the worst fighting has taken place. The American forces used attack helicopters, tanks and warplanes against militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.
"Today what we are seeking is a bilateral cease-fire on the battlefield so we can allow for discussions," General Kimmitt said in remarks quoted by news agencies.
But sporadic machine-gun fire and explosions could still be heard in Falluja, according to witnesses and news agency reports.
The American military unilaterally suspended operations on Friday. The military said in a statement on Saturday that the coalition forces were "prepared to implement a cease-fire at noon today," adding: "If it holds, talks regarding the re-establishment of legitimate Iraq authority in Falluja will begin. This action is being taken with the expectation that enemy elements in Falluja will also honor the cease-fire."
Iraqi doctors in Falluja have reported hundreds of Iraqis killed during the American offensive. The cease-fire on Friday enabled them to collect the dead and wounded in streets and houses where, they said, ambulances were unable to go.
Shiite militias loyal to Mr. Sadr, the anti-American cleric, have battled coalition troops for control of cities south of Baghdad. Battles have flared in Nasiriya, Kut, Kufa, Najaf and Karbala, as well as in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Baghdad.
Shiites and Sunnis united around Falluja as a rallying point against the occupation, organizing aid convoys for the besieged town and blood donations.
Members of the American-installed Iraqi Governing Council entered the city on Saturday to meet with local leaders.
Leaders of Mr. Sadr's militia said on Saturday that they would not attack American-led coalition forces in Karbala, about 65 miles south of Baghdad, during a Shiite pilgrimage to the city this weekend for the festival of Arbaeen.
Mr. Sadr's militias had tried to seize control of stations and government buildings staffed by Iraqi officials and officers. United States officials have vowed to crush the militia forces, which they number in the thousands.
In Sadr City, American tanks that had been posted outside of police stations were not in place on Saturday. A witness said that earlier in the day, American forces tore down posters showing Mr. Sadr, and ran over them in tanks. On Friday, American soldiers also ripped down his image where it had been plastered on a statue erected in a central Baghdad square to replace one of Saddam Hussein that was toppled last year on April 9.
Militants have said they would respond fiercely if the coalition arrests Mr. Sadr, for whom a warrant has been issued in connection with the murder of another cleric in Najaf in April 2003.
On Saturday, Baghdad was tense and fighting flared in some parts. A tank was set on fire along a highway, witnesses said.
In London, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon offered fresh support on Saturday for American military tactics to put down uprisings among both the Sunnis and Shiites.
"I accept that we have got to do more to sort out the security situation," he said in a radio interview, "but we are not going to do that by sitting back and allowing extremists, terrorists to attack and kill, not only coalition forces but also Iraqis themselves trying to rebuild their own country."
Surely, there has been some misunderstanding here.
Onward Muslim Soldiers - ping.
Won't he be surprised! Here's to hoping he gets wrapped in a pig skin before his journey to hell.
These days,cutting peoples heads off is extremely bad PR.
Islamists and their Jihadist army is heade for the same trash heap of history as the Nazis and the Huns.
Amin Al Husseini seen inspecting his Hanzar Division made up exclusively of Muslims, mostly from the Crotia/Bosnia/Serbia region. They actively lead the genocide against Serbs, Serbian Jews and Gypsies.
Amin Al Husseini meets with Adolf Hitler in November 1942, weeks before the decision to implement the Final Solution which sent Europe's Jews to the gas chamber. The Third Reich provided Amin Al Husseini with a salary and appointed him Head of the Hanzar SS Division. The Hanzar Division was made of Nazi Muslims and implemented the genocide of 250,000 Serbs, Gypsies and Jews during WWII.
Amin Al Husseini shown here on a Nazi poster recruiting fellow Muslims to join Hitler in the fight against the West and the Jews. His disciples today include Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein and the leaders of Hamas, Al Qeida and Islamic Jihad.
Amin Al Husseini, future President of the World Islamic Congress (1961) and founding father of the Arab League (1944) inspects his Muslim Nazi troops, the Hanzar Division. Amin Al Husseini making the traditional nazi salute.
Yasser Arafat became a disciple of Amin Al Husseini since the age of 17. Here: recent picture of Palestinian soldiers under the leadership of Arafat making the traditional Nazi salute.
Change the "doesn't" to "does" and let Bremer and US Department of State for the Third World be warned!
At least we are able to garnish *some* intel out of their reports.
Ceasefire collapses, US hostage taken in Iraq
AM - Saturday, 10 April , 2004 08:00:58
Reporter: Peter Cave
TANYA NOLAN: It's the day after the 12-month anniversary of the toppling of Saddam's regime, and things appear bloodier than ever in Iraq.
The ceasefire called by US troops in Fallujah less than 24-hours ago seems to have already collapsed, with mortar rounds ringing out across the Sunni city where 450 Iraqis have died this week.
America has announced the death of six more of it's soldiers, taking the number of US troops killed since Shia unrest erupted on Sunday, to 39.
Meanwhile, insurgents are taking more foreign hostages, an alarming new strategy being used to try and drive coalition forces out of Iraq.
Our own ABC staff on the ground in Iraq have witnessed the taking of the latest hostage.
Hundreds of Sunni Mujahideen or Holy warriors armed with rocket propelled grenades, attacked a convoy of oil tankers taking fuel to US forces besieged in the town of Fallujah, destroying at least a dozen trucks and killing or wounding several drivers.
For hours, the Mujahideen ruled the main east-west highway in Iraq, where they took at least one American hostage.
Our Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Cave reports how he and his cameraman, Michael Cox, were taken by members of the Mujahideen to film the latest hostage, whose fate remains unknown.
PETER CAVE: It was a huge pall of thick black smoke billowing high into the air, west of the capital, that attracted our attention. As we drove closer we passed a burnt out oil tanker, a gaping hole in its side, then another and another.
(Audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: There appears to have been a major attack on oil facilities on the road just up ahead. There are three major fires burning up there with smoke going high into the sky, and just beside us here, an oil tanker is well on fire.
(End audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: But as we continued up the highway, it became clear it wasn't an oil facility, it was more oil tankers blazing furiously.
(Audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: On the road ahead, two oil tankers are burning. We've passed another half a dozen already on this road. There's been a major attack by Mujahideen. Just a short while ago, we spoke to an American who'd been taken prisoner by the Mujahideen.
(End audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: We'd been filming an oil tanker upside down in a ditch beside the road. Local people were braving the fierce heat trying to pull something from the cabin, most probably the driver, who was certainly dead.
(Audio of burning wreckage)
Suddenly, a large late model Toyota Saloon pulled up right in front of us.
(Audio of people speaking)
And three men, two of them masked, climbed out carrying assault rifles and insisted we look at the prize they had in the car.
(Audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: What's happened?
AMERICAN HOSTAGE: They attacked our convoy. That's all I'm going to say.
PETER CAVE: Okay.
(End audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: Their hostage, being held by two more masked men in the car, was wounded in the arm, his blue jeans covered in blood. He had blonde hair and a moustache and appeared more defiant than scared as they roughly yanked his head across so we could see his face.
(Audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: Do you want to give us your name?
AMERICAN HOSTAGE: Hamil (phonetic), Thomas.
(Audio of banging on car roof)
MASKED MAN: Go, go.
PETER CAVE: Okay, okay.
(Audio of car driving off)
(End audio excerpt recorded on scene)
PETER CAVE: As they drove off, another car full of armed Mujahideen pulled up.
"I swear in the name of Allah", he says, "we don't care about death or life, we're going to heaven. Death is welcome."
We had to driver some kilometres back towards Baghdad before we found any coalition troops. Several tanks and two APCs guarding an overpass and watching the huge palls of smoke on the road totally under the control of the Mujahideen.
(Audio excerpt recorded on scene)
AMERICAN SOLDIER: Just past that first burning tanker?
PETER CAVE: We're the first people on…
(End audio excerpt recorded on scene)
We reported the fate of the American hostage but there was no immediate move to mount a rescue.
(Audio of crowd chanting)
Several more kilometres down the road and tens of thousands have gathered chanting "Jihad", or "holy war" in the huge Sunni mosque Saddam built on the western edge of Baghdad.
(Audio of speaker yelling through loudspeaker)
The speaker says, "we will say no with one voice. You Americans will not pass through here. There is no legitimacy in the new Iraq, except for those who fight."
This is Peter Cave in Baghdad, for Saturday AM.
There's a new thread posted on this article.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.