|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
News Search
|
|
April 1, 2003, The Mirror SAVED: BRIT TROOPS RESCUE TWO CAPTURED TRUCK DRIVERS WHO WERE PARADED ON BYLINE: GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN WITH THE BLACK WATCH NEAR BASRA TWO Kenyan truck drivers who were captured and paraded on Iraqi TV were yesterday rescued by British troops. Black Watch soldiers found David Mukuria and Jakubu Kamau tied up and blindfolded in a school where they had been kept without food and water for 10 days. The pair told last night how they spent their time praying while they listened to their captors arguing about whether to execute them. Jakubu, 37, said: "I was sure we were going to die. I remember seeing a man with his finger on the pin of a grenade as they argued about whether they would kill us or not. "David and I are both Christians and this morning I said: 'We must pray together for a miracle.' "I told the men God will open this door and let us out. Half-an-hour later someone opened the door and ran away. We did not go out because we did not know if they were still there. But two hours later the army came and found us in the room. "God must have given them the power to save us. It was a miracle." David, 53, added: "The Iraqis kept us there for 10 days. We had no food or water, nothing. We could not see them but we heard them talking. Some were speaking in English. Some said, 'kill them', some said, 'no'. We just prayed and prayed." The men, who had been held at Al Zubayr, near Basra, were paraded in Al Jazeera footage shown on Iraqi TV on March 26. They were rescued after a tip-off to British military chiefs who now control the town. Troops were sent to the school expecting to be met by armed resistance. But they found it abandoned and the men left in a classroom. David and Jakubu, from Nairobi, were ambushed by militia after becoming separated from a convoy of trucks delivering supplies to US. They were left behind when the other vehicles had switched off their lights and sped away. A man at the roadside flagged them down with a torch. David said: "He asked us where we were going. "We said Kuwait and 20 people came to us with their guns. They beat us, tied us up and covered our eyes. They took everything we had. "Every minute was terrifying because we knew some of them thought we were with the enemy. They had guns and weapons but wore civilian clothes. But the British soldiers were the answer to our prayers. We are just so happy to be alive." More than 30 Black Watch troops in four Warrior armoured vehicles were just 300 yards from the school yesterday morning when they heard the hostages were inside. They roared up to the gates of the ramshackle building and fanned out for attack fearing Iraqis were guarding the captured pair. Soldiers stormed the school but found only a stockpile of weapons and the men.. Corporal Stewart Robson, 38, and 23-year-old Lance Corporal Gavin Dodd led the way. Stewart said: "We had no idea what we might come up against. But we knew we had to get in quickly to free the hostages." Gavin added: "We've seen so much death and suffering here, it was good to be involved in a story with a happy ending. They were overjoyed to see us." The Kenyans, who work for the Saudi-based Springfood company, hugged their rescuers after their ordeal ended yesterday.
|
|
||||
|
................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
|||||||
