Saturday, August 26, 2006
The locals stole everything from the buildings, even roofs and pipes.
AMARAH, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqis looted a military base vacated by British troops and stripped it of virtually everything removable on Friday, an indication of possible future trouble for U.S.-led coalition forces hoping to hand over security gradually to the Iraqi government.
Men, some with their faces covered, ripped corrugated metal from roofs, carried off metal pipes and backed trucks into building entrances to load them with wooden planks. Many also took away doors and window frames from Camp Abu Naji.
"The British forces left Abu Naji, and the locals started looting everything," 1st Lt. Rifaat Taha Yaseen of the Iraqi Army's 10th Division told Associated Press Television News. "They took everything from the buildings."
Problem for government
The plundering was likely to embarrass the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has said that Iraqi army and police plan to take over security for all of Iraq's provinces within the next 18 months.
America's overall strategy calls for the U.S.-led coalition forces to redeploy to larger bases and let Iraqis become responsible for their security in specific regions.
The larger bases can act in a support or reserve role. A final stage would involve the drawdown of troops from Iraq.
Camp Abu Naji, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, had come under almost daily attack when the Britons were in control, an indication of the hostility for foreign troops.
It was first invaded by a handful of Iraqis Thursday, hours after 1,200 British troops pulled out to redeploy along the border with Iran to crack down on weapons smuggling.
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