Militia deny they intend to fight the British

(27 Jun 2003) 1. Various of armed Iraqi men leaving building 2. Armed men getting into vehicles 3. Close up AK47 rifles 4. Vehicles drive away 5. Various travelling shots of armed men in open backs of vehicles 6. Various of truckloads of armed men driving along, guns at the ready 7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Abu Saleh, Local militia member "Our group is here to protect peace and security in the area. We don't intend to fight the British or anyone else". 8. Various of men reading leaflets dropped by British forces 9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Abu Saleh, Local militia member "We are in constant touch with the British troops here and I can tell you that we have nothing to do with the riot, and we definitely have nothing to do with Iran." 10. Various of British soldiers patrolling in vehicles on Baghdad-Basra road STORYLINE: Local militia in the southern Iraqi town of Majar al-Kabir denied on Friday that they intended to fight the British, insisting they were there to protect peace and security in the area. A senior member of the militia went on to say they were in constant touch with British troops stationed in the area and had nothing to with the recent riot in which six British military policemen were killed. Heavily-armed militia members could be seen travelling around the town and surrounding areas in pick up trucks, guns at the ready. It was on Tuesday that gunmen in the town killed the six members of the Royal Military Police, apparently furious over the deaths of five Iraqi civilians during a demonstration, allegedly at the hand of British troops. On Thursday evening, a British plane dropped around 52,000 leaflets on the town, saying that coalition forces regretted the loss of life among Iraqi civilians and added that coalition forces were not behind the incident. There would be no mass punishments for the killings, the leaflet promised, although military officials insisted they were not offering an amnesty to those responsible for the deaths. The leaflets said soldiers would return "to set up good relations with you", but did not say when troops planned to re-enter the town. British Army commanders have suggested that a series of misunderstandings led to the killings during a riot in the town. Orders were given on Monday for the controversial weapons searches to be halted, but a "routine patrol" of Paratroopers and the Red Caps entered the town on Tuesday, triggering scenes of fury among Iraqis who believed they would continue the searches. The Paras escaped after coming under fire, but the Royal Military Police (known as Red Caps) were hemmed in by a crowd of hundreds of angry Iraqis who surrounded a police station where the Britons had gone to meet local policemen. British patrols continued on Friday in the area, although not in the town itself. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...