9.4 |
June 2005 to May 2006
221.
Sir Nigel
asked Mr Blair whether he agreed with the approach he set out,
or
preferred
the Red Team approach of “delaying the transition until the
insurgency is
significantly
reduced”.
222.
On 19
September, two UK soldiers were arrested by the Iraqi Police
Service (IPS)
223.
According to
the account provided to No.10 by Dr Reid’s Private Office, the
two
soldiers
had been parked at the side of a road when an unmarked vehicle with
four
men in
plain clothes pulled up behind them. Two people got out of the car
and walked
towards the
soldiers’ vehicle, cocking their weapons.
224.
The two UK
soldiers, believing they were “facing death or serious injury”,
opened
fire,
killing one of the men and wounding the other. Not realising the
men they had shot
were police
officers, the soldiers tried to escape but were blocked by police
in several
marked
vehicles who opened fire. At this point, the two soldiers put down
their weapons
and
produced their identification.
225.
Although the
uniformed police initially appeared willing to talk
constructively
with the
soldiers, “the atmosphere changed significantly” when Iraqi
plainclothes
police arrived.
226.
The two UK
soldiers were reported to have been beaten and then taken to
the
Jameat
police station, which was known to house a “notorious detention
facility” and
was the
home of the serious crimes unit of the Basra police, “which had
been infiltrated
by militant
elements, especially the Jaysh al-Mahdi and (by his own admission)
were
outside the
control of the Chief of Police”.
227.
Negotiations
for the return of the arrested soldiers, in line with agreed
practice
when Iraqi
Security Forces arrested members of the MNF, failed and the
negotiators
themselves
were unable to leave the Jameat station.111
228.
The Governor
and Chief of Police in Basra had made it clear that they were not
in
a position
to offer any assistance and, despite explicit directions by the
Chief of Police
to release
the two soldiers, the IPS refused to comply. Orders from the
Ministry of the
Interior in
Baghdad were similarly disregarded.
229.
A rescue
operation was successfully mounted by MND(SE) using armed force
to
free the
six negotiators and the two soldiers. This was achieved without
casualties on
either side
but caused significant damage to the wall of the police station and
several
police
vehicles. The two soldiers who had originally been arrested were
found to have
been taken
to a house away from the police station and held by what was
suspected
110
Letter
Naworynsky to Quarrey, 23 September 2005, ‘Iraq Update’ attaching
COS MND(SE),
‘GOC MND(SE)
– Southern Iraq update – 21 September’.
111 Minute
DCDS(C) to APS/S of S [MOD], 21 September 2005, ‘Unrest in Basra –
19 Sep 2005’.
525