Iraq claims to have taken two allied pilots prisoner

Iraq today claimed to have shot down two Apache helicopters and said it was holding the two Allied pilots prisoner.

US Army General Tommy Franks said two pilots were missing in action.

Iraqi state TV showed pictures of one helicopter in a grassy field. Men in Arab head-dresses holding Kalashnikov rifles danced around the aircraft.

“A small number of peasants shot down two Apaches,” Iraqi 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 today, 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”.

Earlier, US Air Force Master Sergeant Grant Windsor at the Pentagon confirmed one Apache was missing but said he had no information on the pilots. He said the US Defence Department was evaluating the tape shown on Iraqi TV.

The helicopter shown on Iraqi TV today did not appear to be damaged, suggesting it had been forced to land by mechanical problems rather than ground fire.

Sahhaf said the government would consider displaying the other helicopter Iraq claimed to have shot down.

The report of the downed helicopters and new prisoners of war came only one day after Qatar-based satellite television 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,” Sahhaf said.

Even so, Sahhaf said the POWs would be treated according to the Geneva Conventions. He rejected accusations that Iraq had violated such accords by allowing Iraqi television to film them and ask questions.

Referring to televised video images of Iraqi prisoners of war, Sahhaf claimed the men were actually civilians taken away at gunpoint by US 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.

Two British soldiers were also reported missing today after regular Iraqi units hit their convoy in southern Iraq.

Ministry of Defence officials said the soldiers came under attack yesterday, but declined to identify the location or the units involved for safety and operational reasons.