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Trouble for 'bloody flag' day
26/09/2003 13:08 - (SA)
Baghdad - United States soldiers are facing disciplinary action for an incident last month when a helicopter tried to remove a religious flag in Baghdad and triggered a clash that left an Iraqi dead, the US military said Friday.
A statement issued in reply to a query by AFP said an investigation into the August 13 incident in a predominantly Shi'ite neighbourhood of Baghdad concluded that "poor judgment was employed by those soldiers implicated in the action."
"Administrative actions have been initiated against those service members involved," said the statement sent by the press desk of the Coalition Press Information Centre in Baghdad.
It did not say how many soldiers were facing punishment or the nature of the sanctions that might be imposed. A military official was unable to provide any further details.
Black religious flag
Tensions had boiled in Baghdad's vast and impoverished Sadr City district after the incident sparked by an American helicopter that apparently tried to remove a black religious flag from a communications tower.
US troops fired into a crowd of thousands of enraged protesters, killing an Iraqi and wounding four other people. The army said it had been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), guns and stones.
But US military officials issued a letter of apology to the Shi'ite Muslim community for the incident and promised to discipline the soldiers responsible.
"Apparently the helicopter either blew down the flag or somehow that flag was taken down," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of US ground forces in Iraq, said at the time.
"We are taking steps to ensure that doesn't happen again," Sanchez said. "Our intention is not to alienate the Shi'ite people."
"We deeply regret what happened today (Wednesday, August 13)," said a letter signed by Christopher Hoffman of the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment.
It was a mistake
"What happened was a mistake and was not directed against the people of Sadr City. I am personally investigating this incident and will punish those that are responsible," Hoffman said in the letter.
He also promised to reduce the number of helicopter and ground patrols in Sadr City and offered to meet clerics to discuss what he called "reimbursement."
- AFP
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