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BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - British forces said on Friday there had been "an incident" in the northern Arabian Gulf after an Iraqi fisherman reported seeing up to seven British or American military personnel being seized by an Iranian ship. "There has been an incident somewhere in the north of the Persian Gulf," British military spokesman Major David Gell said in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, without elaborating. He said he did not know whether any British or American servicemen were involved. The fisherman said the incident took place early on Friday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that marks the...

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher (right) and Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher share some laughs with U.S. servicemembers during a National Football League coaches USO tour of Iraq, at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad, July 2. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Edwin L. Wriston, Joint Combat Camera Center – Iraq. KIRKUK — It was a long line for Soldiers and Airmen, but awaiting them at the end were legendary NFL coaches ready to sign photos, shirts or anything else you could scribble a signature on. The coaches, who included New York Giants’ Coach Tom Coughlin, Baltimore Ravens’...

CAMP VICTORY — Multi-National Corps - Iraq recently celebrated "Women's Art, Women’s Vision" at Al Faw Palace, during a Women's History Month presentation sponsored by the 11th Signal Brigade, Task Force Thunderbirds.The observance honored accomplishments of influential female artists by showing their art and telling their stories. The guest speaker was Lt. Col. Kris Kramarich, commander, 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion."In Violet Oakley's visionary murals she poetically sought to express her desire and hope for world peace, equal rights and the unification of the people of the earth," Kramarich said. "She passed away in 1961, but her vision doesn't differ...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 25, 2005 – One hundred forty-three U.S. servicemembers from 42 different countries held up their right hands and became U.S. citizens today in the Al-Faw Palace rotunda here. The Army and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services led the ceremony. The Oath of Citizenship of the United States of America includes the words "... that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States of America when required by law." But Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, Multinational Corps Iraq commander, noted the new citizens had already made their decision about serving the...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A total of 147 foreign-born US military personnel serving in Iraq gathered inside a former Saddam Hussein palace to be granted US citizenship. In a mass ceremony the soldiers, sailors, and airmen, along with one marine and a navy medic, simultaneously raised their right hands and swore to "support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic." US soldiers listen on during a swearing-in ceremony for citizenship, at Camp Victory in Baghdad. One hundred and forty seven foreign-born US military personnel serving in Iraq gathered inside one...

Saddam’s palace soon to be home to Coalition forces By Sgt. 1st Class Marcia Triggs Sgt. 1st Class K.C. Delagarza, a Reserve engineer from New York, stands guard at the Alfaw palace, which is soon to become headquarters for Coalition Joint Task Force-7. Sgt. 1st Class Marcia Triggs • Printer-friendly version • E-mail this article • E-mail Alerts BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 21, 2003) – While Iraq’s former leader was hiding in holes, Sgt. Maj. Mikel Dawson was busy entertaining guests in one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces and getting it ready to house Coalition Joint Task Force-7. The...

Making a 'Smooth' TransitionSubmitted by: 13th MEUStory Identification Number: 2003123112712Story by Capt. Bill Pelletier ABOARD USS PELELIU(Dec. 3, 2002) -- It?s been a busy year for Maj. Barry Dowell and some of his comrades. In October 2002, Dowell, a Harrier pilot by trade, was doing refresher training at VMAT-203, a training squadron at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., after serving as a flight instructor in Texas for two years. Fast forward to three weeks ago, and Dowell had completed more than a dozen combat missions, most of them north of Baghdad. "It's pretty wild," said the 34-year-old Lexington, Ky., native,...

Staff Sgt. Russell Garvin has a home fit for a king, or at least a deposed dictator. Instead of living like a king, however, Garvin, a member of the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry of the Indiana National Guard, is responsible for ensuring that Saddam Hussein’s former Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory stays in good repair and keeps its presidential charm. “People use the facility for special events, the conference room and for the pool,” he said of the palace’s new role as the unofficial Camp Victory convention center. Military units use most of the marble-clad facility, which is just...

The Ark Royal has docked in Portsmouth after returning from action in the Gulf. Thousands of people lined the docks to greet the 850 servicemen and women, the combined crew of the aircraft carrier and her escort Type 42 destroyer HMS York. Friends and family waved banners and cheered on the wet and windy dock as they waited for their loved ones' return. The flag ship was greeted by a flotilla of local ships and a flyover by military aircraft as it sailed into Portsmouth. Gary Mills, 46, from Aberdeen, wept as he waved to his 20-year-old daughter Emma, who...

BRITISH troops were racing against time last night to free prisoners believed to have been buried alive by Saddam Hussein’s fleeing henchmen. Army engineers were called in after British officers heard scratching beneath a wrecked statue of Saddam in al-Faw. Local people said they had seen two coachloads of prisoners being sealed into a secret chamber under the site. Hundreds of Iraqis kept a vigil yesterday as engineers with pneumatic drills and a bulldozer worked to break through a yard of concrete believed to have been poured into a stairwell leading to the dungeon. Several British troops said they had...

Al Faw, Umm Qasr Resistance May Be Thorn in Coalition's SideApr 08, 2003 Summary If it continues much longer, Iraqi resistance in the Al Faw Peninsula and the port city of Umm Qasr could become a major problem for coalition supply lines, denying them the use of Iraqi ports -- and possibly hindering future oil exports from Iraq. Analysis The war in Iraq now is three weeks old, and Iraqi forces still control a large portion of the Al Faw Peninsula, Iraq's southernmost port, which coalition forces attacked on the first day of the war. Urban guerrilla fighting continues...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 4/3/03 - Rescues, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Arbil, Umm Qasr BREAKING: Freed behind Enemy Lines - POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch BREAKING: Freed in Az Zubaya - Black Watch BREAKING: Baghdad - Republican Guard palace + BREAKING: Najaf - cache of Iraqi weapons from Saddam's military school BREAKING: Nasiriyah - Battle lines BREAKING: Nasiriyah - captured Iraqi military base BREAKING: Nasiriyah - WMD-suits, masks and ammunition which were found at military installation BREAKING: Nasiriyah - freed Iraqi bedouins BREAKING: Arbil - Atropine injectors left by retreating Iraqis BREAKING: Halabja - New sheriff in town...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/25/03 - Tikrit, Baghdad, Fayda,Al Faw,Najaf,Nasiriyah,HMAS Kinimbla,captured mines, Basra, Az Bayr, Az Zubayara, Umm Qasr BREAKING Tikrit - Mailbox for the Baath Party Baghdad - Mutisystem Organ Failure for Saddam? Tense and Post-surrender Errors in Speech Fayda, north of Mosul - new attacks on Iraq Southern Iraq - oil wells burn Southern Iraq - Iraqis freed by the USA Southern Iraq - headquarters of the 51st Iraqi Mechanized Infantry Division Al Faw -British Royal Marines bring justice to the Baath party Najaf - Weapons hot Nasiriyah - Battle at the Euphrates River...

From Tom Newton Dunn with 40 Commando near al-Faw, southern Iraq IRAQI conscripts shot their own officers in the chest yesterday to avoid a fruitless fight over the oil terminals at al-Faw. British soldiers from 40 Commando’s Charlie Company found a bunker full of the dead officers, with spent shells from an AK47 rifle around them. Stuck between the US Seals and the Royal Marines, whom they did not want to fight, and a regime that would kill them if they refused, it was the conscripts’ only way out. In total, 40 Commando had collected more than 100 prisoners of...

Sun man sees surrenderPHOTOGRAPHER Terry Richards, 52, has been with The Sun since 1980 and has previously covered the Afghan war. This time Terry, of Essendon, Herts, joined 40 Commando Royal Marines on HMS Ocean and followed their attack on Al Faw in Southern Iraq. Here is his amazing report and pictures. IRAQI troops shot their own commanders with Kalashnikov rifles — so they could surrender. I overheard a Marine reporting to an officer what the captives had admitted to him. And I don’t blame them for it. Not when you have just witnessed the awesome sight of 40...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 03/22/03 - Umm Qasr taken, Basra battles, Safwan - Iraqis cheer US liberators, Al Faw taken, Baghdad - Evil becomes dust, Mosul and Kirkuk - explosions, Convoy Chamchamal, Kuwait City - Incomings Analyzed, Amazing surrender @ DMZ, STRIKE VIDEO BREAKING: Umm Qasr taken BREAKING: Basra battles BREAKING: Safwan - Iraqis cheer US liberators BREAKING: Al Faw taken BREAKING: Baghdad - Evil becomes dust BREAKING: Mosul and Kirkuk - explosions BREAKING: Convoy BREAKING: Chamchamal BREAKING: Kuwait City - Incomings Analyzed BREAKING: Amazing surrender @ DMZ BREAKING: STRIKE VIDEO BREAKING: Pictures you won't see...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 12/23/02 - Al Faw, Al-Fidaa, Nahrwan, Salman Pak, Al-Tuwaitha, Duekoue, Tiebissou BREAKING: Duekoue, Ivory Coast BREAKING: Nahrwan, El-Basil military research center inspection BREAKING: Tiebissou, Ivory Coast BREAKING: Al Faw inspection BREAKING: Al-Fidaa inspection BREAKING: Salman Pak, Al-Tuwaitha inspection =========== Baghdad =========== In Baghdad, Iraq, Amir al-Saadi, adviser to $addam, said he would allow the CIA to come and identify (why not inspect and destroy?) WMD sites. In Baghdad, Iraq, at the UN headquarters, on the way to an inspection Iraqi police follow behind UN inspectors and report. We know this. They know...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 10/25/02 - AntiSaddam Families, Abu Ghareb prison, Al Basrah, Al Faw, Baghdad, badge shop, Basra, Irbil, Safan BREAKING: DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST SADDAM IN BAGHDAD BREAKING: REPORTERS THROWN OUT OF IRAQ AntiSaddam Families, Abu Ghareb prison, Al Basrah, Al Faw, Baghdad, badge shop, Basra, Irbil, Safan BREAKING: DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST SADDAM IN BAGHDAD In Baghdad, Iraq, the demonstration protest. Saddam got his goons to remove demonstrators who want accountability of the MISSING prisoners. =========== Abu Ghareb prison =========== In Abu Ghareb prison, 22 miles NW of Baghdad, empty prison beds but many prisoners are MISSING....