Iraq parades helicopter crew Thu Mar 27 2003, ITV Iraqi television has paraded two captured pilots of a US Apache helicopter that was downed after attacking an elite Republican Guard division southwest of Baghdad.
The Pentagon have identified the men but their names will not be given until it is sure their families have been informed. Both men appeared nervous and disheveled as their credit cards and other possessions were paraded in front of the cameras. Cheering Iraqis were shown waving their guns as they examined the helicopter. The television report said the helicopter was shot down by a farmer, a claim the US military denied without saying what caused it to come down in a field. "The heroic farmer Ali Obeid-Mingash...shot down the Apache with his rifle. These are the two American pilots who were sent by the little Bush to the inferno of death," the report said, referring to US President Bush. The pilots' appearance came just a day after Iraq paraded on television five US soldiers believed to have been captured after an ambush near the southeastern town of Nassiriya. The Apache shown on Iraqi television appeared to be in good condition and was said to have come down near the city of Kerbala, 70 miles from the capital. US military officials said the helicopter had taken part in strikes against the Republican Guard's Medina Division, which is dug in and defending Baghdad's southern flanks. http://www.itv.com/news/453830.html
