Tuesday, May 13, 2003
U.S. Troops Reopen Iraqi Border Crossing
From: spliffslips
war blog updates
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U.S. Troops Reopen Iraqi Border Crossing
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By MATT KELLEY
Associated Press Writer
May 13, 2003, 11:49 AM EDT
WASHINGTON -- U.S. forces on Tuesday reopened a border crossing between Iraq and Syria, the commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division said.
Maj. Gen. David Petraeus said his forces reopened a crossing near the northern city of Mosul "to trade in accordance with United Nations regulations." He was referring to remaining sanctions that ban shipments of weapons and other restricted material to Iraq.
During the war, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld accused Syria of allowing shipments of night-vision goggles and other military equipment to Iraq. He also accused Syria of allowing wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime to travel through or hide in the country.
The Damascus government denied the accusations but made moves to cooperate, such as turning away or expelling some wanted Iraqis and closing border checkpoints. Reopening the checkpoint near Mosul is another move toward bringing northern Iraq back to normal.
Petraeus, who commands more than 18,000 U.S. troops in and around Mosul, spoke to Pentagon reporters Tuesday via a two-way video link from the northern Iraqi city. He said stability efforts in the area were going well and 90 percent of Mosul has power and water service.
With the help of American forces, local government workers have begun getting partial payments for their April salaries, Petraeus said. The money is from a stash protected by a local bank official and U.S. soldiers, he said.
American forces also brought about $5 million into Mosul this week to distribute as one-time payments for other Iraqi workers, Petraeus said.
Nearly 3,000 local police are on the job in the Mosul area, supplemented by American military police and infantry troops, Petraeus said. U.S. troops are helping to staff 14 police stations there, he said.
Petraeus said his forces are monitoring broadcasts by a local television station in Mosul to prevent transmissions that incite violence. He said his troops intervened with the station to persuade it not to broadcast a letter attributed to Saddam that called for attacks on Americans.
The American soldiers also persuaded the station to stop giving air time to local "political operators" voicing similarly incendiary messages, Petraeus said.
The general said his troops have the right to try to prevent violence, even if that means muzzling local media. He said he was drawing on his experience with U.S. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, where Bosnian Serbs used television broadcasts to incite violence against Muslims.
"Lately, we've had no problems, but if there were, we'd be happy to occupy it (the TV station) and monitor what is being transmitted," Petraeus said.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-101st-airborne,0,1537574.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
|
war blog updates
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U.S. Troops Reopen Iraqi Border Crossing
--------------------
By MATT KELLEY
Associated Press Writer
May 13, 2003, 11:49 AM EDT
WASHINGTON -- U.S. forces on Tuesday reopened a border crossing between Iraq and Syria, the commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division said.
Maj. Gen. David Petraeus said his forces reopened a crossing near the northern city of Mosul "to trade in accordance with United Nations regulations." He was referring to remaining sanctions that ban shipments of weapons and other restricted material to Iraq.
During the war, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld accused Syria of allowing shipments of night-vision goggles and other military equipment to Iraq. He also accused Syria of allowing wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime to travel through or hide in the country.
The Damascus government denied the accusations but made moves to cooperate, such as turning away or expelling some wanted Iraqis and closing border checkpoints. Reopening the checkpoint near Mosul is another move toward bringing northern Iraq back to normal.
Petraeus, who commands more than 18,000 U.S. troops in and around Mosul, spoke to Pentagon reporters Tuesday via a two-way video link from the northern Iraqi city. He said stability efforts in the area were going well and 90 percent of Mosul has power and water service.
With the help of American forces, local government workers have begun getting partial payments for their April salaries, Petraeus said. The money is from a stash protected by a local bank official and U.S. soldiers, he said.
American forces also brought about $5 million into Mosul this week to distribute as one-time payments for other Iraqi workers, Petraeus said.
Nearly 3,000 local police are on the job in the Mosul area, supplemented by American military police and infantry troops, Petraeus said. U.S. troops are helping to staff 14 police stations there, he said.
Petraeus said his forces are monitoring broadcasts by a local television station in Mosul to prevent transmissions that incite violence. He said his troops intervened with the station to persuade it not to broadcast a letter attributed to Saddam that called for attacks on Americans.
The American soldiers also persuaded the station to stop giving air time to local "political operators" voicing similarly incendiary messages, Petraeus said.
The general said his troops have the right to try to prevent violence, even if that means muzzling local media. He said he was drawing on his experience with U.S. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, where Bosnian Serbs used television broadcasts to incite violence against Muslims.
"Lately, we've had no problems, but if there were, we'd be happy to occupy it (the TV station) and monitor what is being transmitted," Petraeus said.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
--------------------
This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-101st-airborne,0,1537574.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
