US Troops Kill Iraqi General

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...3/s1324274.htm

US troops shoot dead Iraqi general: police
The deputy commander of the Iraqi army in western Al-Anbar province was shot dead by US troops at a checkpoint Tuesday night, a police officer said.

"The US forces opened fire at 8:00 pm on Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid, who had left his base in Baghdadi to head home," police Captain Amin al-Hitti said.

"They spotted him on the road after the curfew, which goes into effect at 6pm," the officer said in Baghdadi, 185 kilometres west of the capital.

No immediate reaction was available from the US military.

US forces have struggled to build up Iraqi security forces in Al-Anbar, where the country's insurgency is at its strongest, and many police and national guard units are suspected of having been infiltrated by rebels.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...3/s1325203.htm

Last Update: Thursday, March 17, 2005. 3:00am (AEDT)
US military denies troops killed Iraqi general

The US military has denied that US troops shot and killed an Iraqi general at a checkpoint on Tuesday night in Iraq's western al-Anbar province.

"It is categorically untrue," said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman.

In Baghdad, the US military said in a statement that no coalition checkpoints in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's area of responsibility, under which al-Anbar province falls, "reported any engagement of any kind during this time frame".

Captain Amin al-Hitti, an Iraqi police officer, told AFP that Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid was shot dead by US forces on the the road after curfew.

"The US forces opened fire at 8:00pm (local time) on Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid, who had left his base in Baghdadi to head home," Captain al-Hitti said.

"They spotted him on the road after the curfew, which goes into effect at 6:00pm," the officer said in Baghdadi, 185 kilometres west of the capital.