FALLUJAH - A young man said he just happened to be walking by a store that hundreds of people were looting.
| "I wuz jus' walkin' down the street, mindin' my own bidnid, see?..." |
A middle-aged man said he'd never seen the assault rifle police found in his car.
| "Gun? What gun? Oh, that gun! Uhhh... Somebody left it there." |
And an old fisherman said his grenades were a new, more efficient way of doing his job.
| "And the antiaircraft gun? Well, y'see, duck season starts soon..." |
In a sweltering courthouse, an Iraqi judge on Tuesday conducted the first criminal hearings in Fallujah since the war began when U.S. military police brought him the three suspects — one of several ways U.S. forces are trying to improve relations with resentful residents. All three men pleaded innocent.
| "Yep. That's us. Pure as the driven snow..." |
Judge Jamal Khleif Rejab listened carefully to the statements, scrutinized the police reports — translated into Arabic — and decided there should be trials. He ordered U.S. Army attorneys to arrange for the arresting officers to appear in person with the suspects again within 10 days. Maj. Robert Resnick, the chief of justice for the 3rd Infantry Division, couldn't have been happier. Within 72 hours of his arrival, he'd tracked down the judges, arranged for the payment of their salaries and organized the first hearings. The criminals may have been small time, but Resnick said this first step in building U.S.-Iraqi cooperation in a town known for anti-American sentiment was hugely important. "I don't get into politics, I don't know if they like us, but they are willing to work with the coalition to get things started," said Resnick, of Newton, Massachusetts.
| Good deal. But I still hope Judge Dread throws the book at 'em... |
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