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UK troops kill five robbers; Short ’s circuits spark briefly
UK forces in Basra have shot and killed five Iraqi bank robbers during looting in the city, according to reports. A British soldier was receiving treatment in a field hospital after being shot in the stomach when the robbers opened fire. The patrol from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards initially thought the bank robbers were looters but the soldiers were then shot at, a UK military source told the Press Association. The incident comes after International Development Secretary Clare Short called on the coalition forces to make a "massively bigger effort" to stop the looting and violence that is blighting the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra. She said that under the Geneva Convention "an occupying power" has a duty to maintain law and order, make sure civilians are cared for and keep a civil administration ticking over. But Ms Short, who had threatened to quit her post over the Iraq conflict before a change of heart, refused to say the war had been a "price worth paying". That prompted shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram to urge the prime minister to sack her. He questioned how Ms Short could speak for the government this weekend at meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with her "repeatedly refusing to agree that the war in Iraq was justified". Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Short underlined her belief that the only way to get the IMF, the World Bank and other countries involved in reconstruction work was by the UN bringing in a legitimate, interim Iraqi government. She said there had been "a lot of muddle in this debate" about who should be in charge of Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush's have insisted that the UN has a "vital role" in Iraq but have not set out the details of how they see that role. Ms Short said the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organisation had called on the coalition to prioritise the security of hospitals. "What the UN said is true, that the occupying powers, which is the US, UK and Australia, have a duty across the country to keep order, to keep basic humanitarianism in place for civilians and to keep the civil administration running," she said. "There must be a much bigger effort to stop all this looting and violence. We had looting in Basra, but it is a lot better in Basra now. "But we need a massively bigger effort. It should focus on hospitals - there were lots of injured people." Ms Short, whose department has received £200m from the Treasury to provide humanitarian relief, said it was a priority that US troops should bring order to Baghdad. Mr Ancram argued that the British government should take action to restore order and security in Iraq, because it appeared there had been insufficient plans for proper policing after liberation. "It is not enough for Clare Short simply to wring her hands," he said. But Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted that British and American troops were "doing everything they can" to restore order in Iraq. He said the looting and disorder that had broken out in Baghdad and other cities was understandable because the Iraqi people were breaking free from terror. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-04-11 |
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