Iraqis Cheer Crash of British Helicopter

Iraqis Cheer Crash of British Copter; Clashes Break Out Between British Troops, Shiite Militias


British troops move to the scene of a helicopter crash in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Saturday, May 6 , 2006. A British military helicopter crashed in a residential area and a crowd of Iraqis cheered and threw stones at British forces who raced to the scene to close off the area. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani) 

By BUSHRA JUHI

BAGHDAD, Iraq May 6, 2006 (AP)— A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to three armored vehicles that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said.

Police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim said the helicopter was apparently shot down in a residential district. He said the four-member crew was killed, but British officials would say only that there were "casualties."

British forces backed by armored vehicles rushed to the area but were met by a hail of stones from the crowd of at least 250 people, who jumped for joy and raised their fists as a plume of thick smoke rose into the air from the crash site.

The crowd set three British armored vehicles on fire, apparently with gasoline bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, but the soldiers inside escaped unhurt, witnesses said.

British troops shot into the air trying to disperse the crowd, then shooting broke out between the British and Iraqi militiamen, Khazim said. At least four people, including a child, were killed, he said. Two of the victims were adults shot by British troops while driving a car in the area, Khazim said.

The crowd chanted "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed," a reference to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an ardent foe of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

Later the crowd scattered after hearing explosion, but groups of men set fire to tires in the streets and the situation remained tense. The chaotic scene was widely shown on Iraqi state television and on the Al-Jazeera satellite station.

The attack on the helicopter came at a difficult time for the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair in Britain, where many people oppose the U.S.-led Iraq war.

After a poor showing by his Labour Party in local elections this week, Blair overhauled his Cabinet, ousting Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's following rumors that he and Blair had differed on issues including Iraq. Straw reportedly had expressed doubts about the Iraq war to his boss. Read more...


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British helicopter shot down in Iraq
AlJazeera.net

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