(29 Mar 2003) VOICED BY VERA FRANKL
APTN
British checkpoint south of Basra – 29 March 2003
00:00 Wide shot of road leading to Basra with thick black smoke rising
00:05 Mid shot of same
00:08 Soldier sitting on tank with smoke rising behind
00:12 Zoom in to show tanks and civilian bus crossing bridge
00:18 Mid shot of same
00:22 Horse drawn cart going past
00:28 Civilians walking towards camera
00:35 British armoured medical vehicle passing
POOL
00:42 Wide of British soldiers frisking people in civilian clothes at checkpoint
00:57 Various close-ups of people being searched
00:54 Wide of people detained with troops guarding them
APTN
00:58 Civilians crossing bridge
01:02 Family pushing cart past camera along road
01:14 Vision ends
STORYLINE
British forces were tightening the cordon around Basra on Saturday, after the U.S. military said it killed 200 members of the ruling Baath Party in a missile attack on the building in which they were meeting.
Coalition commanders have avoided an all-out siege of Iraq’s second-largest city, where most of the 1.3 (M) million residents are Shiite Muslims, and not friendly to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
But they have stepped up targeted attacks on the pro-Saddam forces that still hold sway – including the Fedayeen paramilitaries and local leaders of the ruling Baath party.
At the same time, British soldiers man checkpoints and search residents moving in and out of the city, wary of Iraqi troops or militia wearing civilian clothes.
00:02 The road to Basra.
00:05 Oil is burnt deliberately by Iraqi troops and militia creating a smoke-screen.
They want to make it as difficult as possible for the British troops laying siege.
00:12 For the people of Iraq’s second city who want to get out, they have to cross this bridge.
Showing the strange situation here, Basra’s citizens come and go – gathering food aid from points outside the city and then returning.
00:28 But leaving Basra is clearly risky.
On Friday the Iraqi militia, called the Fedayeen, apparently fired mortars and machine guns on about a thousand Iraqi civilians trying to leave.
00:41 Those that can get out are met by British soldiers – many of whom have experience from the troubles in Northern Ireland.
They are well versed in how to tell apart the men-with-guns from the innocent civilians.
They detain anyone who raises their suspicions.
01:00 Relief workers say many inside the city are without clean water and there’s a danger of disease spreading.
There can be no doubt that the people of Basra need this siege to end quickly.
01:14 Ends
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