US denies firing without provocation in Mosul

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A dozen people were killed and scores more wounded when US forces opened fire on a crowd that had gathered to listen to a US-appointed local governor in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul on Tuesday.
According to eye-witnesses, US Marines fired when the crowd noisily interrupted the new governor, Mashaan al-Juburi's pro-US speech. US military sources however said that its troops had come under fire and they had only
fired back in response.
Doctors at the city hospital said that many were injured in the firing.
"There are 12 dead and 60 wounded," said Dr Ayad al-Ramadhani of the city
hospital.
Wounded patients told doctors at the hospital that the new governor was
exhorting people to cooperate with the US when chaos broke out. The crowd
called him a liar and insisted that he end his speech. When he continued the
angry crowd pelted him with stones and menacingly approached him.
Many among the wounded alleged that the besieged governor had asked
Iraqis argue with US soldiers standing behind barbed wire set up in front of
the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 15 April, 2003
the US troops to open fire. The corridors of the Mosul city hospital was
crowded with relatives of the dead and wounded and anti-US sentiments were
high.
"Juburi said the people must co-operate with the United States. The crowd
called him a liar, and tempers rose as he continued to talk. They threw
objects at him, overturned his car which exploded," said Said Altah.
Enraged by the interruption, the governor is said to have shouted back,
accusing the crowd to be "members of Saddam's Fedayeen." Hell broke loose
even as the governor was escorted by some US soldiers back to his office
building. Eye-witnesses said that the US soldiers climbed a nearby building
and then started firing on the crowd.
The US military denies its troops fired without being fired upon first. A
Military spokesperson in Mosul described the incident saying, "There were
protestors outside (government offices), 100 to 150. There was fire. We
returned fire."
However, this story is disputed by witnesses. Marwan Mohammed, 50 said, "The
Americans were turning around the crowd. The people moved toward the
government building, the children threw stones, the Americans started
firing. Then they prevented the people from recovering the bodies," he told
AFP. Similar accounts were given at the hospital from relatives of the dead
and wounded who vocalised their dislike of Americans and westerners.
In Baghdad, the situation was calmer. But for the second successive day,
hundreds of agitated Baghdad residents gathered around the Palestinian Hotel
to register their disapproval against the reigning anarchy and lack of
essential services in the Iraqi capital.
"This is no freedom," chanted the protestors as heavily armed US Marines
stood by edgily on the other side of barbed wire separating them from the
locals.
"No to America, No to Saddam," cried the protestors, in their strongest
protest to date of the tumultuous events that have overtaken the city in the
past few days since the US-led forces rolled into the city centre and the
rule of law collapsed.
Al Jazeera television's Mahir Abdullah reported from Baghdad saying that
the crowd had continued to build up around the hotel since early morning.
Many in the crowd yelled at the US Marines, asking "where is our future"
while others demanded security.
Tempers also ran high in Baghdad because of the worsening traffic jams. With
more cars returning to the streets and US military checkpoints painfully
slowing down the traffic, many grew impatient and angry.
Meanwhile the remnants of Iraqi police have joined forces with US Marines to
start joint patrols in an attempt to restore some semblance of order. Iraqi
police cars accompanied by two US Marine Humvee vehicles were dispatched
from the local police academy to various parts of the city, hit by looting.
Some 2000 Iraqi officers reported for duty on Monday.
The patrolling has begun to yield results. No fresh looting was reported
though tell-tale signs of the recent plunder were visible everywhere.
Neighbourhood vigilantes still stood guard against gangs of looters.
However, life in the scarred capital appears to be limping back to some
normality. In the Karada area near central Baghdad, the streets were full of
shoppers haggling with street vendors selling vegetables. Some stores had
also opened up for the first time in several days.
But life still remained unbearably difficult for many. Electricity is still
out in the capital and hence no power to pipe water to homes. -- Al Jazeera
with agencies