US general hints at Iraqi guilt for market bomb

Military chiefs hinted today that they believed Saddam Hussein’s regime may have been responsible for the daylight bombing of a Baghdad market which left many civilians dead.

US Brigadier General Vince Brooks told a press conference at Allied Central Command in Qatar that he had no confirmation that coalition bombs caused the carnage, which Iraqi officals said killed 14 and injured 30.

Asked what else could have caused it, Gen Brooks, deputy operations director, said that “what meets the eye isn’t always true“, appearing to hint that Iraqi forces could have been responsible.

He told journalists: “We don’t know these (bombs) were ours and we can’t say we had anything to do with it at this point – we will go on record when we know what happened.”

He then listed a series of underhand tactics already employed by Iraqi forces.

“We have seen people wearing US uniforms, as you have reported, strapped with explosives,” he said.

“We have seen irregulars marching people in the street in front of them as they fire on coalition forces.

“We have seen buses following tank convoys with people jumping out engaging in combat.

“We have seen a number of things which tell us that what meets the eye isn’t always necessarily true.”

At least six hours after the explosions, a spokesman at Central Command said it was still checking if coalition missiles were to blame.

“We are still looking into it,” he said.

According to Iraqi officials, two allied cruise missiles slammed into the busy marketplace this morning.

Witnesses, including western journalists who arrived within minutes, described burned bodies on the streets of the Shaab residential district in the north of the city.

Two apartment blocks and several cars were also damaged.

Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Abdullah, head of civil defence for that area of Baghdad, gave the official death toll as 14 with 30 injured.

The incident appeared to be the first major case of so-called “collateral damage” involving substantial civilian casualties since the Allied bombing campaign began a week ago.

Television pictures of the aftermath were expected to stir outrage across the Arab world.

“This is barbarian,” shouted bystander Adnan Saleh Barseem, “It is proof that their aggression is collapsing.”

In London, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon also said he could not “confirm responsibility” for the incident and insisted that a marketplace had “never ever been targeted by coalition forces“.

“But certainly we will look again and continue to look at the ways in which we minimise civilian casualties,” he added.

The British Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that Downing Street was seeking information, but added: “We have always accepted that there will be some very regrettable civilian casualties.”

In the 1991 Gulf War, an RAF Tornado hit a market in the city with a stray bomb, killing a reported 130 people and wounding 78.

The RAF apologised and called the incident a “one-off“.

In southern Iraq today, British forces were waiting for the order to enter Basra in support of the apparent uprising.

Mr Hoon confirmed that coalition forces were engaging groups of enemy forces as they try to flee Basra.

The British Prime Minister pledged support for any rebellion.

At Commons question time, Mr Blair said that once people knew Saddam’s grip on power was being weakened, “there is no doubt at all they wish to opt for freedom, rather than repression“.

Having risen up twice before against 20 years of “brutal repression” without support, the people of Iraq were “naturally wary“, he said.

“We must work with them and make sure that when they are in a position to rise up, we are in an absolutely secure and certain position to give them maximum help.”