Posted on 04/06/2003 5:04:03 AM PDT by kattracks
Baath militiamen shoot at civilians in Basra
By Michael Georgy
BASRA, Iraq, April 6 (Reuters) - Pro-Saddam militiamen with AK-47 assault rifles opened fire on civilian vehicles in Basra on Sunday, wounding one man, in an attempt to force civilians to fight U.S. and British troops, witnesses said.
The wounded man, Waleed Ja'awil, 18, was riding in the back of a pick up truck when Baath party militiamen dressed in civilian clothes shot at the farmer and his three cousins.
The truck raced out of the city and stopped on the edge of Basra near a British military camp. Ja'awil lay groaning with a bullet in his upper leg, blood soaking his clothes.
"We were leaving a mechanics shop and as we turned on the road out of Basra three Baath party militiamen with AK-47s started shouting 'come back you must fight' and then shot at us," his cousin, Saachid Aber told Reuters.
"They were shooting at other cars as well who wanted to leave Basra. They were dressed in civilian clothes. They are known in Basra," he added.
The attack was the first evidence that Baath militiamen were shooting civilians in a bid to beef up resistance against allied troops who control the highways around Basra.
Iraqis said those loyal to President Saddam Hussein have been waging a ..."terror campaign.".. to force them to resist U.S. and British troops. The intimidation includes arrests, torture and late night visits to homes to warn people they must fight or face severe punishment.
The shooting came a few hours after British troops, tanks and armoured vehicles made their largest sustained incursion into Basra since the war started more than two weeks ago.
SHI'ITES HOPE SADDAM WILL FALL
Many Shi'ites, who live mostly in the south, hope Saddam will fall. But some are losing hope that the Iraqi president can be removed because the allied advance through the south is moving slower than expected.
Ja'awil lay on the dirt in agony as British medics injected morphine into his arm and patched up his wound.
His cousins explained to Iraqi bystanders that they were attacked by the Baath, the party that has ruled Iraq with an iron first for decades.
After Ja'awil was taken to hospital, an Iraqi teenager stood over the corpse of an Iraqi soldier whose blackened foot was hanging from under a strip of metal that covered the body.
"Why? What did this man do to deserve this? He must have a family. May God curse you Saddam," he said.
But Iraqi fury is not limited to their president. Dozens of Iraqis blocked by a British checkpoint on the road to Basra city centre blasted the presence of allied troops as an occupation. Some said they preferred Saddam.
"We want Saddam. Where is this liberation they are talking about? I walk to a checkpoint and a British soldier kicks me in the foot and abuses me," said Hussein Hassan against the backdrop of explosions.
Others took a philosophical approach.
Muhammad Saeed, 64, stood holding a piece of shrapnel as dust whipped across the highway.
"God never meant any of this to happen. Why do people have to die like this?" he asked.
Nearby, a huge poster of Saddam in a beret reminded Iraqis that "Saddam is a great leader for a great people."
04/06/03 07:45 ET
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