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> Has the story told by Khaled Bayomi about > the shooting of guards outside "local administration > building" been confirmed by other sources? This was an eyewitness account: Khaled Bayomi, a historian of Iraqi origin living in Sweden, was in Iraq as a human shield from March 20 to April 9. He was accompanied by other Swedish citizens, one whom is of Tunisian origin and would also speak Arabic. Any other confirmation would have to come from Baghdad citizens - there was a big crowd present. And since Bayomi lives in Sweden, he was interviewed by Swedish TV and radio stations and newspapers. The story in the Dagens Nyheter was translated into some 12 languages. There appear to be also different versions in English. > "USA ENCOURAGED RANSACKING" > by Ole Rothenborg > Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), 11th April > "It was the 8th of April ...In the afternoon it became > perfectly quiet and four American tanks took places on > the edge of the slum area. The soldiers shot two > Sudanese guards who stood at their posts outside a local > administration building on the other side of Haifa > Avenue. Then they blasted apart the doors to the > building and from the tanks came eager calls in Arabic > encouraging people to come close to them." This is a very puzzling piece. It seems to have been stuck together from different paragraphs - completely out of sequence. The last past part in the final sentence should come at the beginning, before the guards were shot. I am going to post the relevant paragraphs. Perhaps it will make things clearer for someone who hasn't read the full story. (This is someone's personal translation.): <START QUOTE> "US FORCES ENCOURAGE LOOTING" By Ole Rothenborg [...] - I had visited a few friends that live in a worn-down area just beyond the Haifa Avenue, on the west bank of the Tigris River. It was April 8 and the fighting was so heavy I couldn't make it over to the other side of the river. On the afternoon it became perfectly quiet, and four American tanks pulled up in position on the outskirts of the slum area. From these tanks we heard anxious calls in Arabic, which told the population to come closer. - During the morning everybody that tried to cross the streets had been fired upon. But during this strange silence people eventually became curious. After three-quarters of an hour the first Baghdad citizens dared to come forward. At that moment the US soldiers shot two Sudanese guards, who were posted in front of a local administrative building, on the other side of the Haifa Avenue. - I was just 300 meters away when the guards where murdered. Then they shot the building entrance to pieces, and their Arabic translators in the tanks told people to run for grabs inside the building. Rumours spread rapidly and the house was cleaned out. Moments later tanks broke down the doors to the Justice Department, residing in the neighbouring building, and looting was carried on to there. - I was standing in a big crowd of civilians that saw all this together with me. They did not take any part in the looting, but were to afraid to take any action against it. Many of them had tears of shame in their eyes. The next morning looting spread to the Museum of Modern Art, which lies another 500 meters to the north. There was also two crowds in place, one that was looting and another one that disgracefully saw it happen. <END QUOTE> In fact, Mr. Bayomi witnessed another shooting, not published in the newspapers: While the US tanks were in position (by the museum), a car passed by with four persons inside - in civilian clothes, as far as could be seen. When the driver saw the US tanks he stopped and tried to turn around. But the car was immediately fired upon and went up in flames - killing all four people. Elga Sutter --------------Original Message-------------- Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 10:21:27 +0200 From: Boros Attila <boros.attila@drotposta.hu> To: casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk Subject: [casi] shooting of guards outside building in Baghdad Has the story told by Khaled Bayomi about the shooting of guards outside "l= ocal administration building" been confirmed by other sources? This would c= learly qualify as a heinous crime but I haven't come across any confirmatio= n yet. Attila Boros Hungary "USA ENCOURAGED RANSACKING" by Ole Rothenborg Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), 11th April "It was the 8th of April ...In the afternoon it became perfectly quiet and = four American tanks took places on the edge of the slum area. The soldiers shot two Sudanese guards who stood at their posts outside a local administration building on the other side of Haifa Avenue. Then they blasted apart the doors to the building and from the tanks came eager calls in Arabic encouraging people t= o come close to them. " _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk