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GageAgainstTheMachine Poltical Mod Quote | Reply |

Reactions To US Actions In Basra, IRAQ posted on: 8/11/2003 12:46:01 AM Ex-Gurkha shot dead as Basra rioters protest at power cuts By Harry de Quetteville in Baghdad (Filed: 11/08/2003) A former British Army Gurkha working for the coalition forces in Iraq was shot dead in an ambush in Basra yesterday. He was hit as mobs enraged by fuel and electricity shortages exchanged fire with British troops. An Iraqi carries an injured man during a riot in Basra The Nepalese serviceman was working for Global Security, a private contractor, and was in one of two vehicles delivering mail. The Coalition Provisional Authority said that two or three armed Iraqis set up a road block in the centre of the city and signalled to the vehicles to slow down. "Both cars continued driving, shots were fired and several rounds hit a car and wounded the Gurkha in the shoulder," a spokesman said. "The cars made it back to a CPA building, but the man died shortly afterwards." A CPA southern region statement described the incident as a "terrorist attack". British tanks patrolled several areas of the city to control crowds of residents expressing their anger about the lack of power, which has left them without refrigeration and air-conditioning in the searing summer heat. Soldiers fired at crowds erecting barricades of burning tyres in the streets and stoning passing cars. "There are four protests in northern Basra," Maj Charlie Mayo, a British military spokesman said. "They have turned into some small riots. Some British soldiers came under fire and they returned aimed shots." British troops managed to disperse mobs on Saturday with the help of Shia clerics. But yesterday the mood continue to sour. At least one Iraqi man was killed and two wounded. It was unclear last night whether soldiers or rioters had fired the shots that hit them. British authorities blame looters stealing copper cable for frequent power cuts and residents blame Kuwaiti smugglers for draining the area of its diesel supply. To try to alleviate the problem and bring tempers under control, soldiers manned temporary fuel pumps around the city, providing a price-controlled ration of a gallon to each household. 10 August 2003: Seven British troops injured in Basra riot 6 August 2003: Iraqis flock to Mahdi's Shia army 24 July 2003: Troops die in ambushes but guerrilla war may be ending 21 July 2003: Thousands march in anti-US demo 25 June 2003: Six British soldiers die in Iraq

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