alleged u.s. prisoners shown on arabic tv

Alleged U.S. Prisoners Shown on Arabic TV; News Conference Canceled

Sunday, March 23, 2003

A Sunday evening press conference scheduled at Ft. Bliss, Texas, about five U.S. prisoners of war was canceled.


Ft. Bliss is the headquarters of the maintenance unit some of the purported POWs said they belonged to.

A spokeswoman in Ft. Bliss said the news conference was canceled because officials simply didn’t have enough confirmed information about the alleged POWs.

"We don’t know where all these soldiers are from," said the spokeswoman.

When asked how those at Ft. Bliss were handling news of the possible prisoners of war, she said: "The mood is very tragic. We regret this."

Fox News’ Bret Baier reported the press conference was canceled in part because of delays in notifying next-of-kin.

U.S. military leaders and others were furious that Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera and other stations aired footage and pictures on Sunday of the five alleged prisoners, including one woman.

The stations showed pictures of what they identified as U.S. soldiers being questioned by their captors and asked for information including their names, where they were from and whether they intended to harm or kill Iraqis. The tape that was broadcast was reportedly provided by Iraqi television and was edited.

Abu Dhabi TV and the Lebanese Broadcasting Company also aired the pictures, as well as two Syrian channels, Nile TV, Jordan television, CTV in Canada and French TV-5.

At the request of Pentagon officials and out of respect for the soldiers’ families, American networks held off on airing the footage.

Defense officials were analyzing the video. They said it appeared the prisoners are in fact U.S. troops.

Meanwhile, a woman who saw the broadcast on a Filipino television station she subscribes to identified herself as the mother of one of the prisoners.

"He's been captured," said a weeping Anecita Hudson of her 23-year-old son, Army Spc. Joseph Hudson. "They interviewed my son live from Iraq. I saw my son on the Filipino channel."

Anecita Hudson said her son’s wife was debriefed about the situation Sunday afternoon at Ft. Bliss, where he was stationed.

"From my point of view, he looked so scared," she said. "I'm just praying that the other people (in the military) will get him out of there."

Earlier Sunday, President Bush said he expected Iraq to treat any prisoners "humanely, just like we'll treat any Iraqi prisoners."

Bush, returning to the White House from Camp David, said anyone who mistreats Americans will be treated as war criminals.

"Iraq will not harm the captured prisoners of war," Iraq's Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed told a news conference Sunday. "It will treat them in accordance with the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war."

The footage violated the Geneva Convention, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Nada Doumani said the showing of the prisoners on TV violates Article 13 of the Geneva Conventions, which says prisoners should be protected from public curiosity.

Three prisoners -- including the woman -- said they were from Texas, another was from New Jersey and another from Kansas. At least two of them identified themselves as being part of a maintenance unit.

"I come to shoot only if I am shot at … I wouldn't kill anybody … they don't bother me, I don't bother them," said the Kansas man, whose eyes darted back and forth between his interviewers. "I was told to come here …I come to fix broke stuff," he said when asked why he came to Iraq.

Another, who said he was from El Paso, Texas, stared directly at the camera and spoke in a clear direct voice, often shaking his head and cupping his ear slightly to indicate that he couldn't hear one of the questions being shot at him from around the room.

When asked how the Iraqi people have received him -- whether it be with "flowers or guns" -- one Texas man said: "I don't understand … they're people of their own country."

Al-Jazeera also showed at least one prisoner lying on a cot. The camera panned from his feet to his head, showing one of his arms to be wounded and folded across his chest.

The woman said in a shaky voice that she was 30 years old. Her eyes darted back and forth and she held her arms tightly in her lap as she was questioned. The camera panned back, showing a big white bandage around her ankle. She had no shoes on.

One of the male prisoners was interviewed by an unseen person holding a microphone labeled "Iraqi TV." The soldier spoke in English and at one point said: "I'm sorry. I don't understand you."

The station also showed a gruesome and disturbing video of bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.

"There's a real sickened feeling here" after seeing the tape, said Fox News' Mike Tobin at U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar.

While an Iraqi smiled at the camera over the bodies and shifted them to better display the wounds, the tape showed what is purported to be U.S. Marines in U.S. military attire lying on the floor with serious head and torso wounds -- many execution style.

At one point, Iraqis pulled out what appears to be a passport and other papers out of one deceased person's pocket. Soldiers' shirts were pulled up, and pants pulled down, to show the extent of the wounds.

There was also footage of what appeared to be a fuel or water carrier parked alongside a highway and a body in uniform with full gear and still wearing a helmet lying behind the carrier.

During a CENTCOM briefing Sunday, coalition military officials said 12 American troops are missing after an ambush in southern Iraq. Lt. Gen. John Abizaid said he believed some of the missing Americans were shown on the prisoner tape.

Gen. Vincent Brooks said the ambush occurred around Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates River northwest of Basra, after allied forces met a unit that showed signs it was prepared to surrender. The allies then came under fire by those purporting to be surrendering.

He said the military believed the 12 missing soldiers were "in the custody of the irregular forces that conducted the ambush, and their status is not known." Abizaid said the captors were either Republican Guard forces or Iraqi guerrillas.

The maintenance and supply units are generally less protected than the combat units as they follow the combat troops a few miles behind.

As coalition forces moved north --bypassing cities putting up resistance to reduce casualties -- Iraqis that supposedly laid down their arms attacked the supply forces.

Defense officials told Fox News that the thousands of Iraqi prisoners of war are "all being treated humanely and in full accordance with the Geneva Convention. We fully expect the Iraqi military to do the same."

Adopted in Aug. 12, 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, in Geneva, the agreement says prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act -- including death or injury -- committed by detainees "will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention," according to the agreement.

POWs should not be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments and "at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity," it states.

Former Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters told Fox News Sunday that "this is going to be a real worry as the supply line gets longer."

As Iraqi troops surrender to coalition forces, allied troops apprehend, search, then safeguard the Iraqis, as well as provide medical care if needed.

"I think it's deplorable - it's not surprising coming from this regime," Lt. Eric Wesley told Fox News' Greg Kelly, who is embedded with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry unit.

"However, I feel confident it won't be long … we will not falter, we will not fail. We will be successful."

Fox News' David Lee Miller, Major Garrett, Bret Baier, Liza Porteus, Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press contributed to this report.