US military denies report US troops killed Iraqi general at a checkpoint

WASHINGTON - The US military denied Wednesday that US troops shot and killed an Iraqi general at a checkpoint Tuesday night in Iraq's western al-Anbar province.
"It is categorically untrue," said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman.
In Baghdad, the US military said in a statement that no coalition checkpoints in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's area of responsibility, under which al-Anbar province falls, "reported any engagement of any kind during this timeframe."
Captain Amin al-Hitti, an Iraqi police officer, told AFP that Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid was shot dead by US forces on the the road after curfew.
"The US forces opened fire at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid, who had left his base in Baghdadi to head home," al-Hitti said.
"They spotted him on the road after the curfew, which goes into effect at 6 pm," the officer said in Baghdadi, 185 kilometres (142 miles) west of the capital.

03/16/2005 14:32 GMT