five prisoners, including one woman.
Arab TV Shows Allegedly Captured Troops
Mar 23, 11:12 AM (ET)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera aired footage from Iraqi television Sunday of interviews with what the station identified as captured American prisoners, and also showed bodies in uniform in an Iraqi morgue that it said were Americans.
There was no confirmation that the prisoners were U.S. troops, or if they were, what unit they were attached to. The U.S. Central Command had no comment.
On CBS's "Face the Nation," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said that if those are indeed coalition soldiers being shown on the Al-Jazeera TV footage, "those pictures are a violation of the Geneva Convention."
Four bodies could be seen lying on the floor of the room.
The station said the prisoners were captured around Nasiriyah, a major crossing point over the Euphrates northwest of Basra.
At least five prisoners, speaking American-accented English, were interviewed. Two were bandaged. Those interviewed included one woman.
Two of the prisoners identified their unit only as the 507th Maintenance.
One of the men, sitting up, was being interviewed by an unseen person holding a microphone labeled "Iraqi TV." The soldier spoke in English and at one point said: "I'm sorry. I don't understand you."
The narrator provided an Arabic translation, but it was possible to hear some of the comments in English.
"I come to shoot only if I am shot at," said one prisoner, who said he was from Kansas. Asked why he was fighting Iraqis, he replied: "They don't bother me; I don't bother them."
Another prisoner, who said he was from Texas, said only: "I follow orders."
A voice off-camera asked "how many officers" were in his unit.
"I don't know sir," the soldier replied.
One of the prisoners was shown lying on his back on a bed, with apparent wounds to both arms and hands and marks on his forehead. He had a bandage on one hand and what appeared to be dried blood on his shirt, arms and face.
Al Jazeera later showed additional footage of what appeared to be a fuel or water carrier parked along side a highway and a body in uniform with full gear and still wearing a helmet lying behind the carrier.
The U.S. Army's 507th Maintenance Company is based in Fort Bliss, Texas. The unit is part of the Army's 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, which includes Patriot missile batteries.
