[A-List] UK state: Iraq crisis

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Witness claims British victims fired first using plastic bullets
Deaths linked to anger over weapons searches, writes IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 27 June 2003

THE deaths of six British soldiers and the wounding of eight more in Iraq
two days ago may have stemmed from anger over heavy-handed weapons searches
and the possible use of plastic bullets, a senior UK commander in the region
said yesterday.

As the army launched an investigation into the killing of the military
policemen and the subsequent ambush of a parachute regiment patrol which
came to its aid, Major General Peter Wall said a "misunderstanding" over
weapons searches had caused tensions and could have triggered the protests
in Al Majar al Kabir.

Geoff Hoon, defence secretary, said he feared additional confusion could
have been caused by the use of plastic baton rounds because Iraqis might not
have known the difference between those and live ammunition. It would need
"greater explanation," he said.

Abbas Faddhel, a local policeman, claimed British soldiers had shot dead
four civilians during a protest. Another witness said British soldiers first
fired rubber bullets and then live ammunition into the crowd - claims which
the Ministry of Defence said were being investigated.

Mr Hoon said he had "some developing ideas" about the chain of events which
led to the killings of the six Royal Military Police soldiers, but he
refused to go into detail while inquiries were continuing.

Tensions had been growing over allegedly heavy-handed search tactics used by
Paras who have been patrolling the town.

Iraqis claimed soldiers had searched with dogs, which are not allowed in
Muslim homes, threatened townspeople and mocked women's underwear found
during the searches. The army appeared to have agreed to suspend the
searches after an angry meeting with local Iraqi leaders on Monday, but
protests on Tuesday spiralled out of control as military patrols were
spotted.

Reports said two of the RMP officers were killed in a protest in the town
when the crowd turned against them, and that the other four were killed in a
police station by the mob.

A Para patrol then also came under attack, injuring one person and
destroying two vehicles.

An RAF Chinook helicopter sent in response to the violence came under fire
as it landed and seven personnel onboard were wounded, three of them
seriously.

Major General Wall said the Paras, who went into the town just hours before
the six Red Caps were killed, were on a "routine joint patrol" with local
militia.

"The crowd violence appears to have stemmed from a misunderstanding," he
said.

"The townspeople expected searches for weapons to be conducted by our
patrols.

"That was not our intent and this had been explained to the town council at
a formal meeting earlier in the week, when the strength of their resentment
to weapons searches had become clear."

Major General Wall said investigators were still piecing together the chain
of events but said local Iraqi leaders were co-operating.

"I can assure you that we will do our utmost to ensure that those
responsible are held to account," he said.

An urgent review of troop numbers and tactics in Iraq was launched after
Tuesday's killings and Mr Hoon raised the possibility of sending in
thousands more troops.

The soldiers killed were: Sergeant Simon Alexander Hamilton-Jewell, 41, from
Chessington, Surrey; Corporal Russell Aston, 30, from Swadlincote,
Derbyshire; Corporal Paul Graham Long, 24, from Colchester; Corporal Simon
Miller, 21, from Tyne and Wear; Lance Corporal Benjamin John McGowan Hyde,
23, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire; and Lance Corporal Thomas Richard
Keys, 20, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, north Wales.

Their deaths represent the heaviest single combat loss for British forces
since the 1991 Gulf War. The killings take the British death toll since the
Iraq war began in March to 43.

-----

Controversial history of the riot control 'bullet'
IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 27 June 2003

BATON rounds have been used by British forces in Northern Ireland since the
early 1970s and are still issued to patrols on riot control duty in the
province and elsewhere.

The controversial, cylinder-shaped PVC "bullets" are fired from a special
single-shot launcher, known as a "blooper", and are designed to bounce at
thigh or stomach height to temporarily disable rioters and halt stone and
petrol-bomb throwing.

They were initially made of rubber, but the PVC rounds were introduced in
1973 because they were judged to be more accurate and controllable, and less
likely to cause injury to bystanders.

Soldiers are instructed to aim for the ground in front of a crowd, or at
walls to the sides of a mob to send the 160mph projectiles flying among
them, toppling the ringleaders.

However, 17 people, including seven children, were killed between 1975 and
1998 by stray PVC rounds which struck them glancing blows to the head and
caused lethal skull fractures.

The deaths, mainly accidental, prompted many calls for the banning of the
weapons. In context, the number of fatalities, although tragic, has to be
balanced against the more than 125,000 "plastic bullets" fired in 30 years .

The ministry of defence is currently experimenting with alternative,
non-lethal methods of crowd control.

In urban war zones or on peacekeeping operations in towns, patrols normally
carry at least one "blooper" to supplement their normal firepower.