Iraq Blames US-Led Forces for Army Massacre

Tue Oct 26, 2004 03:30 PM ET
By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's U.S.-backed government said on Tuesday that
"major neglect" by its American-led allies led to a massacre of 49 army
recruits at the weekend.

In one of the bloodiest attacks on Iraq's fledgling security forces,
the unarmed recruits were shot in the back of their heads after being
stopped by guerrillas posing as policemen as they traveled home for
leave.

"There was an ugly crime in which a large group of National Guards
were martyred," Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told Iraq's interim national
council.

"We believe this issue was the outcome of major neglect by some parts
of the multinational (forces)," he said without elaborating.

Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the
attack.

Iraq's Minister of State for national security affairs later softened
the government's tone, saying he was not assigning blame but waiting
for the findings of that inquiry, which is due in three weeks.

"The investigation will seek to determine whether inside information
was obtained on the movement of troops and why the troops were unarmed
and without armed escort," Minister of State Kassim Daoud told Reuters.

A statement by the U.S.-led multinational forces in Iraq blamed the
killings on "terrorists."

"This was a cold-blooded and systematic massacre by terrorists. They
and no one else must be held fully accountable for these heinous acts,"
it said.

It was not clear if U.S.-led forces were involved with or trained the
army recruits at the Kirkush base where they were stationed.

PRESSURE ON SECURITY FORCES

Hours after Allawi spoke, an Iraqi militant group said it had abducted
11 members of the Iraqi National Guard and posted their pictures on its
Web site on Tuesday.

"We captured 11 of the apostates," the Army of Ansar al-Sunna said in
the statement, dated Oct. 21. The authenticity of the statement and
pictures could not be immediately verified.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said he had no information on
the abductions.

Allawi had ordered investigators to find out if the attackers had
inside information, a source close to Allawi said.

Iraq's interim government faces the daunting task of containing a
relentless insurgency with security forces who cannot protect
themselves ahead of elections scheduled for January.

In Washington, U.S. officials said the Pentagon is considering
delaying the departure of some troops in Iraq and speeding the arrival
of others already due to deploy to boost force levels for the polls.

No final decisions have been made on whether or how to increase the
U.S. contingent from the current 138,000 to guard against violence
intended to undermine the government, defense officials said.

U.S. troops on Tuesday stepped up pressure on the rebel-held Iraqi
city of Falluja, the epicenter of resistance to the interim government
and its U.S. allies.

American forces cut off roads and reinforced positions around the town
as jets criss-crossed the sky ahead of an expected assault designed to
crush Jordanian militant Zarqawi and his Muslim militant network.

Witnesses said U.S. tanks and armored vehicles blocked the main
highway to Jordan that runs just north of Falluja, as warplanes roared
overhead. Troops took up positions in empty buildings on the Sunni
Muslim city's southern perimeter.

A civilian driver was shot dead near a U.S. checkpoint on the highway,
witnesses said. The military said it was checking the report. Only one
road leading northwest out of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of
Baghdad, was open to civilian traffic.

Many families have already fled Falluja fearing a U.S. offensive to
bring the city under government control.

The U.S. military said it carried out a "precision strike" on a
Zarqawi safe house in Falluja, killing one of his aides. It did not
name the man or his nationality.

Residents said one house was destroyed and three damaged in the
strike. Hospital officials reported no casualties.

Falluja residents deny foreign fighters led by Zarqawi are in their
midst. They say they will accept the return of Iraqi security forces,
but want no Americans to set foot in the city.

(Additional reporting by Fadel al-Badrani in Falluja, Faris al-Mahdawi
in Baquba and Lin Noueihed in Baghdad)

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