Truckers Balk At Iraq Duty
In a move that could hamper U.S. reconstruction efforts, the Turkish truckers association announced Monday that it will no longer transport goods bound for U.S. forces in Iraq.
The announcement came as a video posted on the Internet showed militants apparently shooting dead a Turkish hostage kidnapped in Iraq. It was not clear when the shooting took place.
Meanwhile, Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric condemned as "hideous crimes" the coordinated bomb attacks on five churches in Baghdad and Mosul that killed 11 people and marked the first major attacks on Iraq's minority Christians since the insurgency began.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani said in a statement that Sunday's assaults on Christian churches "targeted Iraq's unity, stability and independence."
Pope John Paul II deplored Monday the church attacks and offered his solidarity to faithful there.
"The sorrowful news over the tragic attacks yesterday in Baghdad and Mosul against various Catholic communities gathered in prayer in their houses of worship struck me deeply," said the pope in a condolence telegram sent to the Catholic patriarch, Emmanuel III Delly.
In other developments:
Retired Army Major Mike Lyons, a CBS News military affairs consultant, says that Turkish truck drivers refusing to ferry goods into Iraq will have a significant impact on U.S. forces. He says most food items come via Turkey because it's a shorter route than from Kuwait, about 200 miles rather than 600-800. He says it will also affect reconstruction in Iraq.
Cahit Soysal, head of the International Transporters' Association, said that Turkish truckers are hoping that kidnappers will now release two other Turkish drivers they are holding.
Soysal said that 200-300 Turkish trucks, owned by more than a dozen Turkish companies, bring supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq every day.
"As of today, those trucks won't be crossing into Iraq," Soysal said
He added that some 2,000 Turkish trucks, including oil tankers, ferry goods to Iraq every day, and only about 10 percent are destined for the U.S. military. Soysal said trucks carrying supplies not destined to the U.S. forces would not be affected.
Turkish trucks mostly transport fuel and jet fuel to the U.S. troops, an official from the group said.
In the video posted on the Internet Monday, a Turkish hostage, identified as Murat Yuce, is shown being shot. It was not clear when the shooting took place.
The video shows him kneeling in front of three armed men. He then reads a statement in Turkish and says he worked for a Turkish company.
"I have a word of advice for any Turk who wants to come to Iraq to work: 'You don't have to hold a gun to be aiding the occupying United States ... Turkish companies should withdraw from Iraq,'" he says.
"I was able to see the American oppression in Iraq," Yuce says, adding "but I stayed in order to save a little money."
At the end of the statement, the leader of the three presumed kidnappers takes out a pistol and shoots him in the side of the head.
The unprecedented attacks Sunday against Iraq's 750,000-member Christian — hitting four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul — appeared to confirm community members' fears they might be targeted as suspected collaborators with American forces amid a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism.
The attacks on the churches signaled a change in tactics for insurgents, who have focused previous attacks on U.S. forces, Iraqi officials and police, and foreign workers. The kidnapping and murder of the Turkish hostage was the latest bloodshed in an insurgent campaign aimed at forcing coalition forces out of Iraq and scaring foreign companies from operating here.
Several nations — most recently the Philippines — have withdrawn troops from Iraq amid increasing militant violence, and several companies have met militant demands to spare employees.