Captives buried alive
Mercy mission ... British troops help locals search for captives in an Al Amarah dungeon

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From BOB GRAHAM in Baghdad
and NICK PARKER in Al Faw
Wed, Apr 16, 2003

ROYAL Marines were racing against time last night to free prisoners believed to have been buried alive by Saddam Hussein’s fleeing forces.

Engineers were called in after officers heard scratching beneath the plinth of a wrecked statue of the tyrant in Al Faw.

Locals said they had seen two coachloads of prisoners being sealed in a secret chamber under the site.

A similar search was being carried out in another town where around 30 people were feared to have been cemented inside an underground vault.

The Marines launched their operation in Al Faw, close to Iraq’s southernmost tip.

They used pneumatic drills and a bulldozer in an attempt to break through a yard-thick layer of concrete thought to have been poured into a stairwell leading to the dungeon.

Scratching noises from below had been heard during silent pauses ordered in the work.

Lieut Col Simon Wolsey, of 29 Commando Royal Artillery, which called in the digging teams, said: “I definitely heard something. A medic who was with us used his stethoscope and confirmed he heard noise.

“Locals are adamant they saw coachloads of possibly Kuwaiti prisoners from the last war being brought here before Coalition forces arrived.”

Men from 59 Commando Engineers worked in shifts inside the 30ft-high hollow plinth.

Others tried to bulldoze their way in from outside.

Staff Sgt George Lamplough, 35, said: “I’ve just worked 12 hours solid trying to get through the concrete.”

Meanwhile in Al Amarah north of Basra hundreds of Iraqis, aided by British troops, tried to reach a group of opponents of Saddam’s regime they believed had been incarcerated.

Locals said they had heard screams for help. One would-be rescuer, Mohammed Tareq, 37, claimed the captives had been forced into an underground bunker in shackles before the entrance was concreted over.

He added: “We will not stop until they are recovered — whether that be dead or alive.”

Crowds around him tried to smash their way in using pickaxes and sledgehammers. But Tareq admitted: “As each hour passes we grow less hopeful we will find them alive.”

Intelligence sources claimed last night that Saddam was betrayed by his commanders.

It was said they were bribed to surrender by America in the second week of the war. They were paid huge sums and given safe passage out of Iraq.

It meant the Americans could take Baghdad last week with minimal resistance. One of the Iraqi commanders was thought to be General Maher Sufyan, who told his Republican Guard forces to give up and go home.

The people of Baghdad began the slow process of resuming their normal lives yesterday — amid traffic jams.

US troops have asked police, medical workers and key staff to get critical services running.

Residents were warned not to leave their homes at night for fear of attacks by stragglers from Saddam’s militia.

US President George Bush refused yesterday to declare victory in Iraq until the last resistance had been destroyed.

He said: “Victory in Iraq is certain — but it is not complete.”

Additional Reporting: CHRIS BUCKTIN,
News of the World

© 2003 News Group Newspapers Ltd.

Reply 1 - Posted by: losgatos, 4/16/2003 12:30:55 AM

Reply 2 - Posted by: The Road Apple, 4/16/2003 12:42:55 AM And yet the non-nein-nyet gang did not want us to go in and free these and other poor souls imprisoned by the Butcher of Baghdad. Let's put all of them in the same hell hole for a few days and see of there is an attitude change. Pukes.

Reply 3 - Posted by: ZurichMike, 4/16/2003 1:20:58 AM Still haven't heard a peep from the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, or Susan Sarandon about this. Never will, I suppose.

Reply 4 - Posted by: greggojo, 4/16/2003 1:29:15 AM My God, I only hope they get those poor souls out in time.

Reply 5 - Posted by: Duke of Duval, 4/16/2003 1:40:20 AM Saddam probably has those below ground rooms all over the place. Need a seismic approach to finding them like looking for oil in a new area. I also wondered if at night an Infrared sensing system would show the slightly different temperature of the ground over a cemented chamber beneath the surface covered by sand. I saw an IR system clearly show the image of a big pistol under the coat of a man sitting dressed in a suit on a drafting stool. It was a test of the capability of seeing such a small temperature difference where the pistol soaked up the body heat and left its cooler image on the coat where it covered the pistol. That was in about 1973 or so. Should be much more sensitive now.

Reply 6 - Posted by: Dolley Madison, 4/16/2003 7:58:18 AM No, there is NOT Peep One from Susie-Saranwrap and her Whining Timmie! The filth! "We are being persecuted," whined Timmie; "it is said that we support Saddam Hussein." Gee, I wonder why, Whining Timmie?!? Hel-looooooooo! All the while, people are buried alive, Iraqis are found filling the intelligence centers, and foreigners attack our soldiers. "That's a wrap!" shouts the hollywood dude on the set; "How about a touch up for your makeup, Mr. Whining Timmie, before the next Whining Session?"

Reply 7 - Posted by: acidkibitzer, 4/16/2003 8:00:42 AM A former Iraqi political prisoner described on tv how Saddam Forshame's gangsters/torturers forced prisoners to drink gasoline, put them in a hole, and fired bullets into them until the victims exploded.

Reply 8 - Posted by: Obadiah, 4/16/2003 8:02:21 AM And, where has Amnesty International been? Oh, that's right, they only exist to criticize the US.

Reply 9 - Posted by: tlgm, 4/16/2003 8:08:32 AM The poor souls are buried alive and Sarandon's son, little timmy, thinks he is a victim. Amazing, ain't it?

Reply 10 - Posted by: vivavoce, 4/16/2003 8:33:46 AM .. more examples of the price of peace... ..how sad to think people get awards for keeping peace by allowing such as this to exist.... .. Thank you GW for not being a coward and for bringing this into the open...

Reply 11 - Posted by: lana720, 4/16/2003 8:41:59 AM There's not a hole in Hades deep enough for these people. This is exactly why we are there - God bless our President Bush!!!

Reply 12 - Posted by: dixiedarling, 4/16/2003 8:50:15 AM There are no words...

Reply 13 - Posted by: englishleigh, 4/16/2003 8:58:08 AM Wondering if our MIA's, including Scott Speicher, are underground, as well.

Reply 14 - Posted by: Sawbones, 4/16/2003 9:02:52 AM And to think the Clintons have this same kind of mind set towards their enemies!

Reply 15 - Posted by: hayakian, 4/16/2003 9:03:40 AM Revelations like this show the world the non-nein-nyet gang has their moral compass pointing at zip-zilch-zero.

Reply 16 - Posted by: gingadecorgi, 4/16/2003 9:21:57 AM There are no words...

Reply 17 - Posted by: Cato_the_elder, 4/16/2003 9:25:14 AM Dear Lefists, This rescue operation is... NOT IN YOUR NAME!!!

Reply 18 - Posted by: One small Voice, 4/16/2003 9:33:43 AM You will hear nothing from the left. This news story was fabricated to make Bush look good. Many stories are being fabricated. These are all lies. The left has very selective vision and memories. They are useless idiots. As a very intelligent Iraqi said: "Go Home US Human Shields, You Wankers". Well said.

Reply 19 - Posted by: dlb703, 4/16/2003 9:38:54 AM Incidentally, Drudge has a truly creepy photo of Tim Robbins. Dorian Gray?

Reply 20 - Posted by: mthead, 4/16/2003 9:43:39 AM Is there nothing this regime wouldn't do??????? I pray that Saddam and son's haven't gotten out of Iraq. Even tho his wealth may be spread all over the world.

Reply 21 - Posted by: hillarymustbestopped, 4/16/2003 9:45:14 AM The silence from the Hollyweird types is deafening, isn't it?

Reply 22 - Posted by: hotrod, 4/16/2003 9:47:19 AM From a Reply: ...''And yet the non-nein-nyet gang did not want us to go in and free these and other poor souls...'' Since we already have the ''G8'', why don't we start calling these the ''N3''?

Reply 23 - Posted by: Tanstaafl, 4/16/2003 9:49:36 AM N to the third or N-Cubed. I like it!

Reply 24 - Posted by: Cato_the_elder, 4/16/2003 9:51:04 AM Incidentally, Drudge has a truly creepy photo of Tim Robbins. Dorian Gray? Granted, it's not Dorian Gray, but both men are/were politically batty

Reply 25 - Posted by: WyoEagle, 4/16/2003 10:00:10 AM This is another report of this kind of activity, yet no body has been found/recovered yet. I wait for the day that someone is actually found in one of these tombs.

Reply 26 - Posted by: Romana, 4/16/2003 10:05:10 AM Yeah, but at least Oscar was witty and funny.

Reply 27 - Posted by: avogadro, 4/16/2003 10:06:07 AM This is horrific... I'm nauseated by the sheer brutality/evil intent of this act which was documented in this article.

Reply 28 - Posted by: Lady Z, 4/16/2003 10:11:12 AM Well -- let's see how Susan Saranwrap and Robbins will spin this story. Oh yes -- they wouldn't have been buried -- IF -- the "ugly americans" hadn't been coming. The war made them do it......

Reply 29 - Posted by: mythman, 4/16/2003 10:15:26 AM I am concerned that the lefties my be "discomforted" by these accounts.

Reply 30 - Posted by: lamm, 4/16/2003 10:20:43 AM Why isn't any of this on TV? Anyone else reporting it?

Reply 31 - Posted by: MickeyMouse, 4/16/2003 10:23:30 AM Every day, the similiarities between Hussein and Hitler grow stronger. Wherever Hussein and his equally brutal progeny are, I hope that when they meet (met?) their fate, it includes (included?) a slow death lasting a thousand years of excrutiating pain and torture. And, even that is too good for them. The sad fact is that you can only kill these vermin once.

Reply 32 - Posted by: Jr Sample @ BR549, 4/16/2003 10:39:02 AM Somehow, this has got to be the fault of Bush and those wascally Jews.

Reply 33 - Posted by: robinhouston, 4/16/2003 11:04:04 AM Tim Robbins is an ugly American!

Reply 34 - Posted by: nancyb, 4/16/2003 11:16:37 AM Robbins looks as if he's been on a three-week drunk. And Sarandon, on TV without her screen makeup and gauzy camera filter, looks one hundred.

Reply 35 - Posted by: hillarymustbestopped, 4/16/2003 11:25:10 AM OMG what has Robbins done to himself, he looks awful.

Reply 36 - Posted by: shilohsharps, 4/16/2003 11:30:02 AM These fools are 100% correct. Digging captives out of Hell on Earth was not done in their name.

Reply 37 - Posted by: shurnuff, 4/16/2003 11:34:18 AM Nope.... Dorian Gray looked MUCH better than tim robbins!

Reply 38 - Posted by: Q-tip, 4/16/2003 12:17:33 PM Even Hitler didn't kill people slowly like this.

Reply 39 - Posted by: amereagle, 4/16/2003 12:27:15 PM MORE American blood on the Hollywood/Democrat/CommieProgressive/Evil/University/Media American Left.

Reply 40 - Posted by: Q-tip, 4/16/2003 12:30:20 PM The only historical paradigm for treating captives like this is the comanche tortures in Texas, cica 1830.

Reply 41 - Posted by: Nan, 4/16/2003 12:43:33 PM I think these new communists are showing just how very paranoid they are.

Reply 42 - Posted by: twinkie, 4/16/2003 1:14:26 PM As for Timmy, Susan, et al, All this publicity over their stupidity is just playing into their hands. As some other Hollywood idiot said a long time ago, "I don't care what you write about me, just as long as you spell my name right". These nuts are getting a hundred times more publicity than they could ever get from their regular line of work and I'm sure they sit at home at night reveling in that fact and trying to think up more outrageous things to say just to keep it going. Lord know they are not doing this out of conscience sinc they have proved they have none.

Reply 43 - Posted by: IGWTrust, 4/16/2003 1:19:28 PM Digging up underground hell holes to rescue humanity has nothing to do with oil.

Reply 44 - Posted by: TeacherNet, 4/16/2003 1:36:05 PM ##8 - Actually he did... if you were not immediately gassed/killed, he worked/starved you to death while also doing useless medical experiments... Words cannot convey the horror perpetrated by evil men such as Hitler, Stalin or Saddam. That is why it is so important to memorialize these horrors and teach them to children all over the world... Otherwise it will be repeated again and again. That is why the most important words associated with the Holocaust are "Never Forget" and "Lest we Forget" Holocaust Rememberance day is on May 2nd, 2003 this year

Reply 45 - Posted by: mthead, 4/16/2003 1:41:08 PM another one Captives buried alive The Sun (London, UK), by Bob Graham & Nick Parker What American paper is printing this?????

Reply 46 - Posted by: ikanakattara, 4/16/2003 2:49:48 PM Don't look for a lot of atrocity stories in the American press.

Reply 47 - Posted by: donna quixote, 4/16/2003 3:10:57 PM Payback time for Susan. Don't watch her made for tv movie on Sunday. Tell all your friends. I think she looks every second of her age in the photo in spite of all the surgeries she's probably had. I also saw(briefly until I could read the remote) Susan Estrich last night. She appears to have had a nip and tuck also. She has the same shiny face as nancy pelosi.

Reply 48 - Posted by: eliza, 4/16/2003 3:16:50 PM Locals said they had seen two coachloads of prisoners being sealed in a secret chamber under the site. How could you sleep at night after you had seen such a thing? [Even if you were inhibited from doing anything about it during Saddam's iron-fisted rule]. At the very least, after the destruction of Saddam's regime, how could you not have brought these alleged prisoners to the attention of American forces? Their purported presence was discovered by mere chance of fate--hearing of scratching? Mercy. If locals didn't bring these purported prisoners to the American authorities' attention in Al Faw, at least, as is being alleged, then seems one can only conclude: (a) there is a continued presence of Feyadeen or somesuch inhibiting folks from speaking out or (b) the southern Iraqis believed (believe) propaganda about the Kuwaitis, that they are inferior or otherwise deserving of such treatment. A very disturbing story all around.

Reply 49 - Posted by: lamm, 4/16/2003 4:21:30 PM The Kuwait paper isn't even reporting this. Nothing at SkyNews, either. This one isn't passing the smell test.

Reply 50 - Posted by: faldo, 4/16/2003 4:23:28 PM Saw a tape of Moore today (wearing a UCLA ballcap) stating that there are 30 dictators in the world currently, and that many are worse than Saddam... Have to agree with many of the posts above...it's all about publicity ...and one special hair up their butt... called "W"

Reply 51 - Posted by: Coy860, 4/16/2003 4:49:48 PM Folks, what has happened through the years is that people without brains think that FREE SPEECH means that they can say anything they want, without natural consequence. HOW do you change the mind set of idiots? They also think the Government guarantees happiness, but all it does is guarantee the PURSUIT of happiness. This is what Lyndon Johnson wanted when he dumbed down the schools, and it is still going on. Say what you want, but be prepared to pay the price, whinning Hollyweird!

Reply 52 - Posted by: patriot in texas, 4/16/2003 5:17:15 PM I know Lucianne is way ahead normally on news postings but ... Fox isn't reporting this .. yet.

Reply 53 - Posted by: Nan, 4/16/2003 6:55:59 PM Searching Google and cannot find any other news org. that is reporting this story.

Reply 54 - Posted by: Viking2002, 4/16/2003 7:03:30 PM My God. This alone should be our impetus for telling Syria: you have 24 hours to turn over the architects of this abomination, or WE WILL LAY DAMASCUS WASTE.

Reply 55 - Posted by: greyhoundpals, 4/16/2003 7:05:11 PM The trash that are covering up for Sadaam or who refuse to admit to his depraved, brutal treatment of his own people will be remembered in the same thought with the morons who deny the holocaust. This kind of story needs to be spread near and far in this country. We'll see how muchof the US media pick it up. likewise, stories about terror camps, and WMD dumps.

Reply 56 - Posted by: 4ladyK, 4/16/2003 7:46:29 PM This...just makes me sick to my stomach. Hey ldotters, there's usually an email button "email this article" you can access to send it to the alphabet networks, and if you really want to see it, send it to Fox or Drudge. Instead of asking "has anyone seen these?" (like I have in the past), we can make sure they do by sending the articles to them, demanding they cover them. let's roll...

Reply 57 - Posted by: Medieval One, 4/16/2003 8:39:38 PM If this story is really true the only reason I can think of as to why the Iraqis didn't notify authorities sooner is because they were too busy looting and getting their "just revenge". There aren't many heroes like the lawyer who notified the Marines of our female P.O.W.

Reply 58 - Posted by: Victory, 4/17/2003 12:21:39 AM Fair is Fair. I am looking forward to a formal statement by Robbins, Sarandon, Streisand, Penn, Baldwin, Garofolo, Asner, Moore and all their pals to the effect of the following: "We declare that all of the lives saved, children freed, torture stopped, rape averted, riches-plundering ceased, opression ended, and freedom brought to the people of Iraq by the US Military and the government of the People of the USA and the Presidency and Administration of George W. Bush was NOT IN OUR NAME." Any time, children. Step right up to the mike. Any time now.....

Reply 59 - Posted by: Penney, 4/17/2003 12:31:25 AM (Could these PC, 'artistes,' POSSIBLY have not seen the red & blue county vote map?!)