Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi television Monday showed two men said to have been the crew of an Apache helicopter forced down during heavy fighting the night before in central Iraq.
The two wore cream pilot overalls and did not speak to the camera but appeared confused. They turned their heads and looked in different directions as the camera filmed them.
Iraq's state television later showed a collection of documents arrayed on the floor. They included what looked like ID cards and a VISA credit card.
Iraq claimed Monday that it shot down two Apache helicopters and was holding the pilots prisoner.
"A small number of peasants shot down two Apaches," Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said earlier. "Perhaps we will show pictures of the pilots."
Gen. Tommy Franks, the U.S. war commander, said a two-man crew was missing in action. But he denied Iraqi reports that the craft had been shot down by farmers, and that a second chopper had been lost.
Iraqi state television showed pictures of one Apache helicopter in a grassy field. Men in Arab headdresses holding Kalashnikovs automatic rifles danced around the aircraft.
Iraqi state television also showed pictures of two helmets apparently belonging to members of the helicopter's crew, as well as documents and other papers lying on the ground.
EARLIER- - - - - -
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq claimed Monday that it shot down two Apache helicopters and was holding the pilots prisoner. U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks said two pilots were missing in action.
Iraqi state television showed pictures of one helicopter in a grassy field. Men in Arab headdresses holding Kalashnikov automatic rifles danced around the aircraft.
"A small number of peasants shot down two Apaches," Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said. "Perhaps we will show pictures of the pilots."
Iraqi state television also showed pictures of two helmets apparently belonging to members of the helicopter's crew, as well as documents and other papers lying on the ground.
During a briefing at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, Franks acknowledged one helicopter did not return from its mission in Iraq.
"We have a two-man crew missing," he said, adding that their fate was "uncertain." However, he dismissed reports the helicopter was downed by "farmers."
Earlier, Air Force Master Sgt. Grant Windsor at the Pentagon confirmed one Apache was missing but said he had no information on the pilots. He said the Defense Department was evaluating the tape shown on Iraqi television.
A U.S. Central Command official in Qatar said the Apache shown on Iraqi television was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and was forced down late Sunday by heavy ground fire.
Another Apache and a UH-160 tried to rescue the crew, but were driven off by ground fire, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi information minister, said Iraq would consider displaying the other helicopter it claims to have shot down.
The report of the downed helicopters and new prisoners of war came a day after al-Jazeera showed video images of five American prisoners of war captured in fighting near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.
"Yesterday was a black day and the black days will increase," al-Sahhaf said.
He said the POWs would be treated according to the Geneva Conventions and rejected accusations Iraq violated the accords by allowing Iraqi television to film the prisoners and question them.
Referring to televised video images of Iraqi prisoners of war, al-Sahhaf claimed the men were actually civilians taken away at gunpoint by U.S. forces.
"Is no one supposed to tell them they acted inappropriately?" he asked. "These hypocrites! We tell them we abide by Geneva Conventions."
He accused allied forces of "crying tears of crocodiles" for attacking Iraq and finding the consequences unpleasant.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
