Iraqis surrender

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Report from Camp Coyote in Kuwait

Mar 9 2003

SADDAM'S SOLDIERS SURRENDER

 

TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border and tried to

surrender to British forces - because they thought the war had already

started.

The motley band of a dozen troops waved the white flag as British

paratroopers tested their weapons during a routine exercise.

The stunned Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade were forced to tell the

Iraqis they were not firing at them, and ordered them back to their home

country telling them it was too early to surrender.

The drama unfolded last Monday as the Para battalion tested mortars and

artillery weapons to make sure they were working properly.

The Iraqis found a way across the fortified border, which is sealed off

with barbed-wire fencing, watchtowers and huge trenches.

TESTING TIME: British Marines are preparing for war

A British Army source in Kuwait contacted me to explain how the

extraordinary surrender bid unfolded. The source said: " The British guys

on the front-line could not believe what was happening. They were on

pre-war exercises when all of a sudden these Iraqis turned up out of

nowhere, with their hands in the air, saying they wanted to surrender.

" They had heard firing and thought it was the start of the war.

" The Paras are a tough, battle-hardened lot but were moved by the plight

of the Iraqis. There was nothing they could do other than send them

back.

" They were a motley bunch and you could barely describe them as soldiers

- they were poorly equipped and didn't even have proper boots. Their

physical condition was dreadful and they had obviously not had a square

meal for ages. No one has ever known a group of so-called soldiers

surrender before a shot has been fired in anger. "

Last night the Ministry of Defense officially denied the incident had

taken place, but the story was corroborated by an intelligence source.