Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/1/2003

TYPE=Q&A

TITLE= ALISHA RYU Q&A

NUMBER=3-627

BYLINE= PESSIN/RYU

DATELINE=LONDON/NORTHERN IRAQ

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A Patriot missile has intercepted a suspected Scud missile fired in the direction of U-S forces in Central Iraq. VOA's Alisha Ryu was with U-S soldiers when they rushed to put on their chemical protective gear, and then heard a loud explosion in the distance. She spoke with VOA's Al Pessin in London.

TEXT:

PESSIN: Alisha, I understand there was an alert in the camp this morning, and you all had to put on your chemical protective gear and your gas masks and there was a little bit of drama. Tell us about that.

RYU: Well, approximately 0600 UTC we received a notice that there was an 'incoming.' We believe it was a Scud. That has not been confirmed, but that's what I'm told preliminarily and that it was coming nearby in this area in Central Iraq. We were told to put on our gas masks, put on our protective suits. We were told to be prepared to go into 'MOP Four,' which is the full gear with the gloves and the boots. And we waited for quite some time. I did hear a loud explosion outside. I didn't know what it was at the time. Now I'm hearing that a Patriot missile did intercept that Scud or missile that was fired toward us, in our direction, and it exploded before it impacted. We're not sure if that was the same missile that was fired in Kuwait, but a Patriot did intercept that.

PESSIN: And so there was no chemical or biological fallout from that? You got the all-clear?

RYU: We have the all-clear now. I think investigators are going over to the site where the debris might be falling, and trying to get an assessment on that, but right now it doesn't appear to be a chemical missile of any kind or warhead.

PESSIN: Alisha, there's been a lot reported about an incident yesterday at a checkpoint in which U-S Marines apparently killed seven Iraqi civilians in a vehicle that refused to stop at a checkpoint. What are you hearing about that incident and the reasons for it?

RYU: Al, it's been a very, very tragic incident, of course, but I think you have to put it in the context of why those soldiers were very tense and behaving very defensively. On Saturday, there was a car-bombing -- a suicide car-bomber, sitting at a checkpoint, detonated a bomb, killing four soldiers. That memory is still very, very fresh in the minds of these soldiers who are manning the checkpoints right now. There's been a directive that's been sent out to be very cautious, to approach the civilians with care, not to overreact, but, at the same time, make sure that they're out of their vehicles completely, make sure that they stop the vehicles well away from the soldiers. We understand that they did fire a warning shot in the air yesterday at that civilian vehicle. They fired at the engine to try to stop that vehicle, and, when all methods of trying to stop the vehicle failed, that's when they opened fire, which is what they've been instructed to do. It's very unfortunate that the car was full of women and children.

PESSIN: Alisha, I know that, for operational security reasons, you can't give a lot of details, but we also know that, the last couple of days, there's been a lot of jockeying for position among the various forces, there have been a lot of skirmishes in various places. Is there something big in the air?

RYU: There has always been, in the battle plan, a major assault toward Baghdad. I cannot give you complete details on those, or when it's going to happen, but yes, there is an increased amount of activity. There is a great deal of preparation going on. It's been ongoing for over a week now, and I think that there are some indications now that this may be sooner, rather than later.

PESSIN: All right, Alisha, thank you very much. That's V-O-A's Alisha Ryu with U-S forces in central Iraq, and I'm Al Pessin, V-O-A News in London.

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