MOSCOW,
April 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Russian Ambassador
to Iraq Monday, April 7, accused U.S. forces of deliberately shooting at
his convoy as it was fleeing Iraq for Syria.
The
report, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, filed from the
Iraqi-Syrian border, said ambassador Vladimir Titorenko was lightly
injured, with his arm hurt in the attack.
There
had been a skeleton staff of 26 Russian diplomats in Baghdad. This was
being reduced to 12 in the face of the U.S. push into the city when the
convoy came under attack.
The
official said the Russians had given U.S. diplomats precise details of
the description and number of vehicles in the convoy, the people in them
as well as the exact route they would be taking out of the Iraqi
capital.
This
information was then passed on to U.S. military commanders in order to
prevent the convoy from facing fire from “coalition” forces who have
surrounded Baghdad and are advancing on the center of the city, the
official said.
Russian
news reports had earlier said that the convoy was carrying Russian flags
as it was leaving Baghdad, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).
A
Russian emergencies ministry plane flew out to Syria Monday morning to
pick up the staff.
"We
had been in touch for several days with the Russians about the
withdrawal of their personnel," a U.S. official said. "We had
detailed information about the vehicles, the personnel and the route
they were going to follow.
"All
of this was passed on to the commanders in the field so they would know
to let it pass," the official added.
"It
seems the Iraqis may have told them to take a different route than they
told us because we didn't have anyone in the area they were supposed to
be in."
The
official said last-minute changes to the route might explain why U.S.
Central Command at first maintained there were no coalition troops in
the area where the convoy was traveling when it was hit.
No
Harm Intended
 |
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Rice
assured Putin “no harm was intended”
|
Meanwhile,
U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice assured President
Vladimir Putin Monday that "no harm was intended" if U.S.
forces were proved to have shot at a convoy of Russian diplomats fleeing
Iraq.
"We assured the Russians that no harm was intended," the
official told journalists, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But
the official stressed this did not mean Washington accepted that it was
U.S. forces that fired Sunday at the convoy of Russian diplomats, of
whom five were wounded in the attack. "No, we do not take the
responsibility," he said.
Iraq
may have set up the weekend attack on a convoy of Russian diplomats
fleeing Baghdad by instructing the drivers to take a different route
than planned, a senior U.S. official told AFP Monday.
The
U.S. official said the first reports from the U.S. military indicated
that the Iraqis had fired first but stressed that the investigation into
the incident was still in its preliminary stages.
"From
what we can tell, We had guys coming into the area, the convoy coming
into the area and the Iraqis were waiting," the official said.
"When the vehicles came by, the Iraqis started shooting."
"It's
all very unclear, but it was certainly not our intention to whack this
guy (the Russian ambassador)," the official said. "That's why
we think the Russians followed a different route."
Whatever
the cause of the attack, it has further strained already tense ties
between Washington and Moscow and just hours after the attack U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell called his Russian counterpart Igor
Ivanov to assure him a full investigation into the matter was underway,
the State Department said.
