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ABCNEWS VideoSource
Iraq Fallujah 4 - WRAP Funerals of policemen killed by US troops, reax
09/13/2003
APTN
VSAP385748
TAPE: EF03/0826 IN_TIME: 23:08:27 DURATION: 3:42 SOURCES: APTN RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Fallujah/ Baghdad, 13 Sept 2003 SHOTLIST: Fallujah 1 Wide shot Al-Mahmoud mosque 2 Coffin being carried into Al-Mahmoud mosque 3 Various of crowd outside mosque 4 Man firing silver plated Kalashnikov 5 Crowd shooting into air 6 Various of coffins being carried into mosque 7 Crowd firing into air 8 Coffins being carried into mosque 9 Close up guns being fired into air 10 Wide shot coffins being carried out of mosque to be taken for burial 11 Crowd 12 Mourners carrying coffins through streets away from mosque 13 Pan from stopped traffic, to American soldiers in tank, blocking road into Fallujah 14 Close up American soldiers Baghdad 15 Lt Col George Krivo, Coalition Military Spokesman walks in 16 SOUNDBITE: (English) Lt Col George Krivo, Coalition Military Spokesman On September 12th at approximately midnight a patrol from the US military operating in the vicinity of a Jordanian run hospital near Fallujah was attacked from a truck by unknown forces Coalition forces immediately returned fire and the subsequent engagement lasted approximately three hours Regrettably during the incident extensive damage was done to the hospital and several security personnel were killed including 8 Iraqis and one Jordanian national The senior military leadership of the coalition has been in contact with the Jordanian military and Iraqi authorities to express our deep regret and apologies Today the Coalition has initiated an investigation into the incident to get a full accounting of the facts We wish to express our deepest regret for this incident to the families that have lost loved ones and express our sincerest condolences 17 Wide shot briefing STORYLINE: The US military apologized on Saturday for the friendly fire killing here of eight Iraqi policemen and a Jordanian guard, but anger washed over the people in Fallujah on Saturday as they buried their dead in scenes that may trigger a new cycle of bloodshed for American troops in the country's most troubled region Gunfire erupted throughout Fallujah, a city of 200,000 people 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, as residents gathered to bury the eight policemen, whose flag-draped coffins were carried into a mosque for religious rites before they were given to family members for burial In an ominous message, Fawzi Namiq, the mosque's imam, said through loudspeakers: Save your bullets for the chests of the enemy The US military issued an apology for the incident _ the worst case of friendly fire since major hostilities in Iraq were declared over May 1 _ and offered condolences to the victims' families An investigation had begun, it said However, military spokesman Lt Col George Krivo said the Americans only fired after they had been attacked from a truck by unknown forces Relations between Fallujah's residents and US forces in the area have been on a knife's edge since shortly after the city was captured in April Friday's killings were certain to inflame the smoldering hatred of the American occupation Fallujah is part of the so-called Sunni triangle _ a vast swath of land astride the Tigris and the Euphrates west and north of Baghdad _ where the mainly Sunni Muslim population gave deposed dictator Saddam Hussein his strongest base of support during his 23-year rule As mourners assembled some in the crowd chanted: There is no God but God, and America is the enemy of God Angry residents roughed up reporters who were in the city to witness the funeral ceremony and burials A clergyman grabbed one armed man and prevented him from shooting at a departing AP Television News car as it sped from the city A CNN cameraman was beaten and an Associated Press photographer was hit in the face The policemen who died were members of the US-trained paramilitary group that did police work in the region around the city and protected infrastructure Tribal leaders and city dignitaries issued a statement, distributed in mosques, calling for a one-day general strike on Sunday and a three-day period of mourning to begin the same day US troops who had been directing reconstruction projects from the Fallujah mayor's office were not there Saturday Police at the mayor's office said the Americans' absence was understandable given Friday's events Besides the reports of nine deaths, Iraqi police in Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, said nine people were wounded in the incident which occurred as police in three vehicles were chasing a car that had been involved highway banditry The firing began as the police lost sight of their quarry and turned around in front of the Jordanian hospital, which was badly shot up during the firefight It appeared that Jordanian guards joined in the shooting thinking they were under attack The 100-bed Jordanian military field hospital was set up in April to provide Iraqis and others with medical care in Fallujah It also houses diplomats transferred after a car bomb attack on the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad last month The US military said its investigation of the shooting would be lead by Brig Gen Jeffrey J Schloesser of the 101st Airborne Division Many Iraqis claim friends and relatives have been shot and killed when they failed to stop at US checkpoints in Baghdad, but until Friday there had been no reports of a friendly fire incident of such magnitude involving US forces and the growing US-sponsored Iraqi police, militia and military
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