IRAQ: U.S. FORCES SEIZE THREE SUSPECTED GUERRILLA LEADERS IN OVERNIGHT RAIDS IN TIKRIT

Record ID: 646833

  • Title: IRAQ: U.S. FORCES SEIZE THREE SUSPECTED GUERRILLA LEADERS IN OVERNIGHT RAIDS IN TIKRIT
  • Date: 6th August 2003
  • Summary: (W1) TIKRIT, IRAQ (AUGUST 6-7, 2003)(REUTERS) (NIGHT VISION) (GREEN SCREEN) 1. MV: US TANKS DRIVING THROUGH STREET 0.06 2. MV: TANKS 0.11 3. SV: THREE US SOLDIERS OBSERVING TARGETTED BUILDING 0.16 4. CLOSE UP US SOLDIER POINT RIFLE AT ROOF OF BUILDING 0.21 5. SV: GROUP OF SOLDIERS TAKING POSTION AROUND THE BUILDING 0.26 6. CLOSE UP SOLDIER WITH RIFLE 0.30 7. SV: GROUP OF SOULDIER ENTER BUILDING 0.35 8. SV: SOLDIERS CHECKING ROOMS IN HOTEL BUILDING 0.41 9. SV: TWO IRAQIS TAKEN OUT OF BUILDING BY SOLDIERS 0.47 10. SV: TWO IRAQI BEING HANDCUFFED BY US SOLDIERS 0.53 11. CLOSE UP OF HANDS 0.58 12. MV: DOZENS OF IRAQI SITTING ON GROUND GUARDED BY US SOLDIERS 1.06 13. SCU: IRAQI BEING INTERROGATED BY US SOLDIERS 1.11 14. WIDE: GROUP OF IRAQI SITTING GROUND IN HANDCUFFS 1.17 15. SV: IRAQIS BEING ESCORTED AWAY FROM SCENE 1.21 16. CLOSE UP OF ARRESTED IRAQI (SILHOUETTE) 1.27 17. SV: ARREST OF IRAQI AND US SOLDIER SITTING IN MILITARY VEHICLE (SILHOUETTE) 1.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TIKRIT, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA7KTIQQVEFL2FS4FYBA7M9Z1YX
  • Story Text: U.S. forces in Saddam Hussein's home town said they
    seized three suspected guerrilla leaders in overnight raids
    that included sealing off a street with tanks and briefly
    detaining dozens of men.


    One man, arrested after 39 men were turned out of
    a workers hostel, handcuffed and questioned by soldiers in
    the street may have been a "national level fedayeen
    leader", funding and arming resistance to the U.S.

    occupation beyond Tikrit itself, raid commander Lieutenant
    Colonel Steve Russell said.

    The man may also be linked to an attempted attack
    nearby on U.S. forces 24 hours earlier, he said, when
    troops shot a man who they said was about to fire a
    rocket-propelled grenade.

    The two others were believed to have been generals
    under Saddam and were detained in separate raids at an
    undisclosed village south of Tikrit, 170 km (105 miles)
    north of Baghdad. About a dozen other people there were
    still being questioned.

    The three men held were believed to have held meetings,
    Russell said: "We're very interested to know what they were
    up to." There was no indication they had close personal
    links to Saddam himself, who U.S. commanders say may well
    be in hiding nearby.

    In Tikrit, as Abrams tanks and other armoured vehicles
    sealed the area and helicopters clattered overhead in the
    dark, troops charged up stairways, banging doors. They made
    men kneel in the street, heads down and hands cuffed behind
    their backs with plastic ties. Interpreters handled the
    flow of questions.

    The targeted suspect was taken away blindfolded. The 38
    others held at the city hostel were released after about an
    hour with apologies from the commander. They were mostly
    labourers and artisans from southern Iraq, Russell said.

    One man thanked the soldiers profusely -- in English --
    when freed.

    U.S. troops say they are seeking a balance between
    capturing or killing those who are attacking them and
    alienating the local population with strong-arm tactics.

    "We went in with a lot of force," Russell said. "As we
    cast a wide net for sharks, we catch dolphins too. And we
    apologise."
    In all, nearly 400 troops took part in the lightning
    operations. Russell said he was taking no chances as the
    raids took in large numbers of men and he had reports of
    weapons stores and trading in the area of the city that was
    sealed off.

    He described those arrested as Saddam "loyalists" but
    said only further questioning would determine what
    information they might have about the whereabouts of the
    fugitive dictator.

    "I think we are eroding all of the support of the
    former regime," he said. "We have planned raids thinking he
    (Saddam) might be there and will continue to do so."


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