REPULSIVE PHOTOS OF UK/US TROOPS

REPULSIVE

From RICHARD WALLACE, US Editor in Washington


SICKENING TV pictures of two missing British soldiers lying dead in the Iraqi dust left UK troops in tears yesterday.

One of the men lay spreadeagled, his legs apart and arm outstretched, with a bullet wound in his chest. The other was slumped half turned over with blood staining his chest and neck.

Another two men, possibly American special forces, were shown being held captive in a room of jeering and chanting Iraqis.

A horrified British officer said last night:"The pictures are abhorrent and in total breach of the Geneva Convention." A military source added: "This is barbarism."

The gruesome 30-second video footage was released to the Arab al-Jazeera station by the Iraqis yesterday as at least 14 civilians were killed and 30 hurt in a suspected US strike on a market in Baghdad.

Two missiles blasted a parade of shops hundreds of yards from the nearest military buildings, incinerating most of the dead.

It was the worst civilian outrage since the war began a week ago. The US refused to claim direct responsibility or to apologise.

Last night a 1,000-vehicle column of Saddam Hussein's fiercely loyal Republican Guards raced out of Baghdad and a further 2,000 Iraqi troops left Kut in a daring counter-attack aimed at trapping the main US force.

In the south, a huge column of tanks poured out of Basra in what appeared to be a last ditch suicide attack on British troops outside the city. UK commanders admitted their troops were in a "predicament".

But gung-ho President Bush shrugged off criticism that the allied forces were in trouble and under strength.

Instead Mr Bush - who meets Tony Blair at Camp David today - gloried in a standing ovation from troops at US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, declaring: "We will be relentless in our pursuit of victory."

The dead British soldiers, attached to the Desert Rats, were listed as missing on Saturday after their convoy was ambushed by Iraqis near the southern town of al-Zubayr.

It is believed the ghoulish video film was taken in minutes of them being killed and their Land Rover torched.

The footage begins with Iraqis displaying what appears to be a parachute then cuts to the men lying in the road. Another shot shows civilians climbing and dancing on the overturned vehicle.

Also shown were a Phoenix RAF surveillance drone and a trailer used to carry the unmanned spotter plane.

At Qatar command centre some UK troops wept at the pitiful images of their dead colleagues. Group Captain Al Lockwood said the film would be studied to discover the men's identity.

He said: "Obviously we will be checking on the whereabouts of all our personnel and units to see if we can throw any light on the matter.

"I find the pictures abhorrent. This is against all protocols of the Geneva Convention. I hope the film is pulled immediately".

A British military source said of the apparent murder of the two troopers: "Such barbarism reflects the true nature of the Iraqi regime. We're witnessing the lowest conceivable standards of humanity."

The Defence Ministry said: "We are shocked and appalled that the Iraqi regime has released these pictures. It's probable these are the two personnel listed missing.

"Next of kin have been informed they are now categorised as believed killed. Our thoughts are with their families and friends."

The men pictured as captives were wearing T-shirts and khaki outdoor waistcoats.

Both tall and heavy set, they stared calmly into the camera as Iraqis chanted and waved pistols. One had dreadlocks tied on top of his head. The other looked in his mid-40s.

Yesterday's missile strike left a giant crater in the Baghdad market. As the dead were covered and the wounded carried away, an angry crowd waved the shoes and clothes of victims, shouting: "Down with Bush" and "Long live Saddam".

Taxi driver Ziad Khaled's eyes welled with tears as he told how the strike killed his aunt and two cousins, one of them a girl of 11. He sobbed: "She died in my arms."

US officials admitted their aircraft were targeting missiles and launchers in a residential area 300 yards away.

A spokesman said: "Military targets such as these are a threat to coalition military forces and will be attacked.

"While the coalition goes to great lengths to avoid injury to civilians, in some cases such damage is unavoidable when the regime places military weapons near civilian areas."

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reminded the US it was responsible for civilian welfare in Iraq. He said: "I'm getting increasingly concerned by humanitarian casualties in this conflict.

"All belligerents should respect international humanitarian law and take all necessary steps to protect civilians."

Iraq's UN envoy Mohammed Aldouri accused the US and Britain of inflicting "thousands" of casualties on his country. He said: "Iraq is being subjected to criminal, barbaric military aggression."

A British man surrendered on Sunday to the Desert Rats after travelling to Iraq to fight for Saddam, it emerged yesterday.

The unidentified prisoner, in his mid-20s and speaking with a northern accent, gave himself up to Irish Guards telling them he wanted to go home to Manchester.

A source said: "He told us he wanted to fight for the Iraqis because he didn't agree with what Britain and America are doing. Then he taunted soldiers saying he'd soon be back in Britain enjoying state benefits."

Mr Blair and Bush are set to provoke a new international crisis by refusing to back down on plans for a US military government in Iraq.

Mr Blair said yesterday the coalition partners would want UN backing for a post-Saddam government, but refused to commit himself to a multi-national administration.

He said: "We will have to discuss the details of any handover to a civil administration to make sure US and British forces did not give their lives in vain."

UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said in an interview yesterday he was "disappointed" he had to pull out of Iraq.

He said: "We had the door slammed in our faces. I had a sense before the (US) decision to go to war, they were irritated by our work."

More than half the country - 55 per cent - believe Mr Blair is taking a principled stance over the war compared to 36 per cent last month, according to a YouGov poll for Channel 4 News.


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