As aid worker pleads for life, 800 British troops head north

By Patrick Kerkstra
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WARRANT OFFICER GILES PENFOUND / AP Land Rovers of the British Black Watch Regiment, some bedecked with the Union Jack, wait near Basra earlier this week before heading to duty in the dangerous province of Babil southeast of Baghdad. The move is intended to free U.S. troops for an assault on Fallujah.

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The British move came as the TV network Al Jazeera aired another video of the kidnapped British-born director of CARE International's Iraq office pleading for her life, and Japan's prime minister rejected demands from militants holding a Japanese hostage to withdraw his nation's forces from Iraq.

In the video, a tearful Margaret Hassan pleads for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save her life by withdrawing British troops and releasing all female prisoners held by the coalition. Hassan has lived in Iraq for decades and has Iraqi citizenship.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rejected demands to withdraw 500 Japanese troops in exchange for the release of a Japanese national identified as Shosei Koda, 24. The Japanese troops are in Iraq on a purely humanitarian mission and haven't engaged in fighting.

"The Self-Defense Forces will not withdraw," Koizumi said. "I cannot allow terrorism and cannot bow to terrorism."

An al-Qaida-linked group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted man in Iraq, posted a video of Koda on an Islamist Web site Tuesday, promising to kill him within 48 hours if Japan's troops weren't removed.

British troops A look at the Black Watch and Queen's Dragoon Guards, the British units being deployed to the U.S.-controlled sector of Iraq. Black Watch: The regiment's origins date to 1725, when Scottish clans loyal to King George I contributed to a force assigned to keeping the peace in the Highlands. Because of their job of "watching" and the dark color of their tartan, they became known as the Black Watch. Also known as the Royal Highlanders, the regiment saw distinguished service against Napoleon's troops in 1815, in the Crimean War, the Boer War and in World War I and World War II. Its soldiers wear distinctive red feathers on the left side of their berets. Queen's Dragoon Guards: Also known as the Welsh Cavalry, the regiment's origins date to 1685 and the reign of King James II. The regiment is recruited mainly from Wales and two neighboring English counties. Since 1959, when it was given its current name, the regiment has served in Germany, Belize, Cyprus, Bosnia and Northern Ireland. During the Gulf War, one of the regiment's squadrons led the 7th Armored Brigade into Kuwait.

The redeployment of about 800 British soldiers — most from the Scottish Black Watch battalion and some from the Queen's Dragoon Guards — represented another major political risk for Blair, whose popularity has been undermined by his support for the war. He left the impression before Parliament that the redeployment may not last long.

"The Black Watch will come back by Christmas. As to what then happens, we can't be sure at the moment," he said. "We don't believe that there will be a further requirement for our troops, but I can't commit myself. I can't guarantee that."

British officials have been tight-lipped about where precisely the 800 soldiers will be based, but they'll be patrolling a region known for kidnappings and ambushes.

Britain's 8,500 troops are based around the southern city of Basra in a relatively peaceful area of Iraq. Sixty-seven British soldiers have been killed in Iraq, compared with more than 1,000 U.S. troops.

The U.S. military wants the British to assume security responsibility in areas close to Baghdad so U.S. Marines and soldiers can be shifted to insurgency strongholds west of the capital, including Fallujah.

British lawmakers have opposed moving the troops into U.S.-controlled areas, saying it would place soldiers in more danger.

Iraqis in Baghdad said they thought the British might fare better in the area than U.S. troops, citing the British soldiers' friendly demeanor and memories of the 22-year British rule of Iraq.

"The British have more knowledge and more background about the traditions, behaviors and customs of the Iraqis," said Saleh Mohammed, 44, a shopkeeper.

In Fallujah, the Mujahedeen Shura, the council of militants that runs the city, said it was prepared to restart peace negotiations with the Iraqi government in an attempt to avoid the expected U.S.-led offensive.

An aide to Sheik Khaled Hamoud al-Jumaili, the key negotiator, made the announcement at evening prayers at the city's main mosque. The aide, Mohammed al-Samarli, said al-Jumaili met with Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan this week and agreed to open talks tomorrow. Al-Samarli described the move as "progress to comfort the people of Fallujah."

A former leader of Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress (INC) said he was starting a new political party.

Mithal al-Alusi, a former party spokesman, was forced out of the INC last month after he visited Israel for a terrorism conference. Iraq has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, and most Iraqis harbor a deep dislike for the country.

"We are going to tackle the Iraqi situation. We won't say something to satisfy the foreigners just to get their financial support and then say something else to the Iraqis to get their votes," al-Alusi said.

U.S. forces have been increasing raids in Sunni insurgent areas to the north, south and west of the capital in recent months in a bid to stabilize Iraq ahead of national elections in January. The U.S. military said yesterday that Iraqi forces, backed by Marines, captured 18 insurgents in a sweep through the Iraqi town of Haswah.

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday that more extremists are massing in Fallujah and warned of increasing terrorist attacks to come.

The United States has offered a $25 million bounty for the capture or killing of al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be hiding in Fallujah.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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