PDA

View Full Version : Britain: Second K.I.A.



wrbones
03-25-03, 04:39 PM
Britain Suffers Second Combat Casualty







Tuesday, March 25, 2003

LONDON — A second British soldier has died in combat in southern Iraq, British officials said Tuesday.





The Ministry of Defense said a soldier from the First Battalion Black Watch, whose members are mostly from Scotland, was killed overnight near the town of Az Zubayr, close to Basra.

The ministry said next of kin had been informed but gave no further details.

Earlier Tuesday, officials identified the first British soldier killed in combat in Iraq as Sgt. Steven Mark Roberts, 33, of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

Roberts was shot Sunday while trying to calm rioting Iraqi civilians in Az Zubayr, The Daily Telegraph newspaper said in a pool report. The ministry declined to comment.

U.S. officials said Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush would meet later this week to discuss the course of the war.

Diplomatic sources and administration officials told The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, that Blair would fly to Washington on Wednesday and the two leaders would continue their talks Thursday at Bush's Camp David retreat. The prime minister's office would not confirm Blair's travel plans.

Sixteen other British servicemen are known to have died in the conflict, including two jet crewmen shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile battery.

Another two British soldiers have been missing since their convoy was hit Sunday in southern Iraq.