Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=6/25/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / VIOLENCE (L)(CQ)

NUMBER=2-304712

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

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INTRO: British military officials in Iraq are seelomg the surrender of those responsible for Tuesday's killing of British soldiers in the south of the country. The six royal military police were killed and another seven wounded during clashes with Iraqi civilians angered by the soldiers' methods in searching for weapons. V-O-A's Sonja Pace reports from Baghdad.

TEXT: British military officials met with local authorities in the town of Majar al Kabir.

In the first of two violent incidents Tuesday local witnesses report that demonstrators shot at British troops after the soldiers fired rubber bullets to try to control an angry crowd. In the second incident, British soldiers were killed in a gun battle with civilians at the police station in Majar al Kabir.

Four Iraqis were reported killed and 14 wounded in the clashes.

The demonstrators were protesting what they consider the heavy handed and intrusive methods used by British soldiers in their search for weapons in private homes. Residents said they were offended by soldiers pointing guns at women and children and searching women's rooms.

People in the town say tensions had been mounting for some time prior to the protests and shootings.

Tuesday's incidents were the first major attack against British forces in Iraq since the ouster of the regime of Saddam Hussein in April.

American troops, however, have come under almost daily attacks and ambushes in the center of the country, in Baghdad and areas north and west of the capital.

U-S officials blame armed elements still loyal to the ousted regime.

There have also been several attacks against oil facilities. The latest one on Tuesday, when an oil pipeline was damaged in Haditha, more than 200 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, sending oil into surrounding palm groves and into the Euphrates River. Iraqi officials said it was the work of saboteurs. (Signed)

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