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[casi] FW: U.S. Troops Fire on Iraq Protesters Again




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030430/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_shooting&cid=540&ncid=716

U.S. Troops Fire on Iraq Protesters Again

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. troops opened fire on
anti-American demonstrators for the second time this
week as Iraqis marched Wednesday to protest the
previous shooting. The local hospital said one person
was killed and at least 16 others wounded.

The gunfire came less than 48 hours after a shooting
during a demonstration Monday night that hospital
officials said killed 13 Iraqis. There was no
immediate indication of any American casualties.

The clashes in Fallujah, a conservative Sunni Muslim
city and Baath Party stronghold 30 miles west of
Baghdad, reflect the area's increasing tensions as
American troops try to keep the peace in Iraq (news -
web sites).

About 1,000 residents marching down Fallujah's main
street stopped in front of a battalion headquarters of
the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, in a compound
formerly occupied by Saddam Hussein (news - web
sites)'s Baath Party. The demonstrators were carrying
signs condemning Monday night's shooting.

Protesters started throwing rocks and shoes at the
compound and troops opened fire about 10:30 a.m.,
scattering the demonstrators. Protesters then returned
to pick up the wounded.

Medical staff at the Fallujah hospital said a
30-year-old man was killed, another man was in
critical condition and 15 others were wounded.

Maj. Michael Marti, an intelligence officer for the
division's 2nd Brigade, said soldiers in a passing
convoy fired on the crowd after rocks were thrown at
them and a vehicle window was broken by what was
believed to be automatic weapons fire.

As the convoy was passing, the demonstrators "started
throwing rocks and then at one point, they (soldiers)
were engaged by what they believed was an AK-47" and
opened fire, said Marti, of Archbold, Ohio.

Capt. Jeff Wilbur, a civil affairs officer, said the
fire from the convoy was followed by soldiers opening
fire from the compound.

City officials who witnessed the gunfire said they saw
or heard no shooting from among the protesters.

U.S. Apache attack helicopters circled the site
throughout the march and for hours afterwards. U.S.
officers met with Fallujah mayor Taha Bedaiwi
al-Alwani and leading area sheiks in hopes of reducing
the tensions, while several dozen demonstrators
clustered angrily outside the town hall.

"Get out, get out!" one protester shouted at soldiers
guarding the meeting.

"We will keep this up, we will keep them on edge,"
said another protester, 29-year-old Abdul Adim
Mohammed Hussein.

Emerging from the meeting, the imam of the Grand
Fallujah Mosque, Jamal Shaqir Mahmood, said "The
Americans said 'we won't reduce the numbers, they're
needed for security.' But the people of Fallujah told
them we already have security."

The American forces have given no indication they
might reduce their presence in Fallujah, the site of
factories suspected of being linked to banned weapons
programs for Saddam's regime. However, U.S. forces did
leave their station at the school where Monday's
shooting took place.

Americans and Iraqis have given sharply differing
accounts of Monday night's shooting. Paratroopers from
the 82nd Airborne said they opened fire only upon
armed men — about 25 infiltrators among a crowd of
200. Protesters insisted their demonstration was
unarmed and peaceful.

Dr. Ahmed Ghandim al-Ali, director of Fallujah's
general hospital, said the clash Monday killed 13
Iraqis — including three young boys — and injured
about 75. Some residents put the death toll higher, at
15.

No Americans were injured.







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