WEDNESDAY, APRIL2, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Troops rescue POWsoldier
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - American troops yesterday rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held as a prisoner of war in Iraq since she and other members of her unit were ambushed March 23, the Defense Department announced.
Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W. Va., had been missing with 11 other U.S. soldiers from the 507th Maintenance Company. The unit was ambushed near Nasiriyah after making a wrong turn during early fighting in the invasion of Iraq. Five other members of her unit were later shown on Iraqi television answering questions from their Iraqi captors.
U. S. troops rescued Lynch near where her unit was ambushed, said Jean Offutt, a representative for Fort Bliss, Texas. The 507th Maintenance is based at Fort Bliss.
Lynch had been listed as missing in action but was identified by the Pentagon Tuesday as a POW. She was not among the seven U.S. soldiers—including the five
from the 507th shown on television — formally listed as prisoners of war.
Offutt said she did not know whether Lynch had been wounded or when she might return to the United States.
The rescued soldier's hometown erupted in celebration at the news.
"They said it was going to be the biggest party this road had ever seen," Lynch's cousin Sherri McFee said as fire and police sirens blared in the background.
"Everybody was really worried ... but we all remained hopeful and knew she would be home," McFee said.
Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks at Central Command headquarters in Qatar announced that a U.S. POW had been rescued but refused to provide any further details.
In a brief statement, Brooks said, "Coalition forces have conducted a successful rescue mission of a U.S. Army prisoner of war held captive in Iraq. The soldier has been returned to a coalition-controlled area."
Fifteen other Americans are formally listed as missing. The other POWs include two Army Apache helicopter pilots captured March 24 after their helicopter went down.
The 507th Maintenance was attacked during some of the first fighting in Nasiriyah, a Euphrates River-crossing city where sporadic battles have raged since U.S. troops first reached it.
Troops and military officials have said much of the fighting there had involved members of the Fedayeen Saddam and other Iraqi paramilitaries who had dressed as civilians and ambushed Americans.
Lynch, an aspiring teacher joined the Army to get an education and take advantage of a rare opportunity in a farming community with an unemployment rate of 15 percent one of the highest in West Virginia.
Central Command officials in Qatar, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Lynch had been rescued from a hospital in Iraq.
Terror suspect attempts suicide
The Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A terror suspect attempted suicide at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba and was being treated at detention camp's new psychiatric ward, officials said yesterday.
The man was saved by guards within seconds of the attempt in his cell late Monday, Army Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said.
There have been 24 suicide attempts by 17 individuals since detainees began arriving at the remote naval base in eastern Cuba in January 2002, officials
said. None has been successful.
Johnson refused to provide further details of the suicide attempt but said that "most of them are by self-strangulation."
He said that the detainee did not suffer "significant injury" and remains under observation in psychiatric facility, which opened March 23.
The new ward has 20 detainees staying there, he said. Officials have denied that the 35-bed ward was created solely in response to suicide attempts, saying it is part of planned improvements to health care.
Military doctors are treating about 80 detainees for mental health problems, with 60 percent receiving medication, officials said.
Human rights groups have asked whether the interrogations were contributing to the suicide rate.
The U.S. government says the roughly 660 detainees from 42 countries are suspected of links to Al Qaeda terror network or the ousted Afghan Taliban regime. None have been charged or permitted lawyers while they are held indefinitely and interrogated.
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