INCIDENTS IN AL MAJAR AL KABIR ON TUESDAY 24 JUNE 2003

I would like to begin by offering my sincere condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the incident which took place on 24 June in Al Majar Al Kabir. Also, to reassure the families, friends and colleagues of those injured that they are in the very best of hands, and receiving the most expert cfare here in theatre.

In the wake of those events, we have been building a more detailed picture of what took place, and working in conjunction with local leaders. We have received excellent cooperation from members of the Al Amarah authorities and the town council of Al Majar, who met with our local commanders yesterday morning.

A number of them went to the town on the day itself to try to restore order, and we have valued their support. They have expressed their confidence in our forces and the continuing strength of the cooperation between the people of Maysan province and the Coalition. We will continue to cooperate with them closely on the way ahead.

We need to establish what took place in order to ensure that the right follow up action is taken. I can assure you that we will do our utmost to ensure that those responsible are held to account. This will be done in cooperation with the Iraqi authorities, and we have asked the town council for its assistance.

I am aware of different versions of events leading up to the deaths of the Royal Military Police personnel which have been reported in the media. You will understand that it would be wholly inappropriate for me to make any detailed comments about this incident while we are still trying to establish the facts. The fact that there were no British survivors makes this particularly difficult.

I can say that a six-man RMP patrol left 1 PARA's base location in Al Amarah bound for Al Uzayr. On the way there, the patrol intended to drop in on a number of the local police stations in order to liaise with the local police force. The route that they planned to take was initially to Majar Al Kabir, where they intended to stay until approximately 1100, and then onwards to Qalat Salih. Their purpose was to advise the local police force on policing matters and monitor their progress. This was part of the excellent work the RMP has been doing, and continues to do, across the UK area of operations to reestablish the Iraqi police force.

Following the incident which resulted their deaths, members of the local Maysan Province Guard Service placed the bodies of the six into local ambulances which were subsequently driven to the 1 PARA Incident Control Point which had been set up close in response to the ongoing incidents.

On the other incident involving the platoon from 1 PARA, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my praise for the professionalism and courage displayed by all those involved. They had intended to conduct a routine joint patrol in the town working with the local militia. When the crowd turned against them, they fought a determined and protracted action to extricate themselves from a precarious situation. I would also like to pay particular tribute to the helicopter pilot and crew of the Chinook sent to provide reinforcements and ammunition, and to the medical team on board. Their actions undoubtedly prevented further loss of life and involved considerable risk to themselves.

The crowd violence appears to have stemmed from a misunderstanding. The townspeople expected searches for weapons to be conducted by our patrols. That was not our intent, and this had been explained to the town council at a formal meeting earlier in the week, when the strength of their resentment to weapons searches had become clear.

The situation in Basrah province and throughout the rest of Maysan province remains calm today. We continue our important work to support the reconstruction of Iraq.

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