Video seems to show British plane downed in Iraq
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-02-01 11:17

Al Jazeera video shows the footage of a finger pressing a button, and two missiles or rockets flying up into the air January 31, 2005. The video also showed an explosion at a distance and burning debris of a what appeared to be a plane on the ground, including an engine, filmed at close range in a large field. [Xinhua/AFP] Arabic television channel Al Jazeera aired a videotape on January 31, 2005, purporting to show an Iraqi insurgent group firing a missile that downed a British transport plane in Iraq. The video, issued by the 1920 Revolution Brigades, also showed an explosion at a distance and burning debris of a what appeared to be a plane on the ground, including an engine, filmed at close range in a large field. [Reutrs] Arabic television channel Al Jazeera aired a videotape on January 31, 2005, purporting to show an Iraqi insurgent group firing a missile that downed a British transport plane in Iraq. The video, issued by the 1920 Revolution Brigades, also showed an explosion at a distance and burning debris of a what appeared to be a plane on the ground, including an engine, filmed at close range in a large field. [Reuters]

A videotape Monday purported to show insurgents in Iraq downing a British military transport plane with a missile in a crash thought to have killed 10 people -- Britain's worst single death toll in the country.

The video, aired by an Arabic TV channel and issued by the 1920 Revolution Brigades, showed a mid-air explosion then burning debris of what looked like a plane, including an engine, on the ground and filmed at close range in a large field.

Analysts said the wreckage on the video looked authentic but the first part -- shots of a button being pressed, a missile streaking off then an explosion -- was less convincing. Leading Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera said it received the tape from the group, which has claimed responsibility for some attacks and kidnappings in the past.

Named for an Iraqi uprising against British rule, the group has often released videos of attacks on U.S. tanks, troops and aircraft and claimed to be responsible for the shooting down of two U.S. helicopters in early August 2004.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said nine Royal Air Force personnel and one soldier were "missing, believed killed" in the crash on Iraqi election day Sunday.

Hoon said American and British forces had secured the crash site, and were recovering the bodies and attempting to determine what caused the giant plane to plunge into the desert.

Among the victims was Australia's first casualty of the Iraq war -- a former Australia Air Force member who had joined Britain's Royal Air Force.

"It could very well be hostile action," said parliamentary defense adviser Air Vice Marshal Tony Mason.

The Hercules, widely considered the most secure and reliable "workhorse" plane used by British forces, could have been the target of a heat-seeking ground-to-air missile or a "very, very lucky shot" from small arms fire, he said.

WRECKAGE SCATTERED

Wreckage from the C-130 Hercules was strewn over a wide area when it hit the desert 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, prompting defense experts to speculate it could have been hit by insurgents, although they questioned parts of the video.

"The rebels have not shot down any big planes before, so it's not as if they'd be recycling old footage of wreckage," Tim Ripley, defense analyst at Britain's Center of Defense and International Security Studies, told Reuters.

"But the first bit looks of a more propaganda nature."

Andrew Brookes, of International Institute for Strategic Studies, agreed: "I think it is a genuine Hercules crash, with the other bits superimposed on it...It is possible some one has decided to cash in and produce a video.

"It could be someone trying to convey the impression after the election that 'we are still here and able to do things'."

A little-known Islamic militant group, whose claims have in the past been discounted, said earlier it had downed the plane. "The mujahideen fired a guided anti-armor missile at the C-130 Hercules as it was flying at a low altitude," said the statement by Ansar al-Islam Group - Saad bin Abi Waqqas Brigade.

London declined comment on the video or the claim.

"The real problem is that all this leads to a great deal of speculation, none of which is helpful. We need facts," chief of air staff Jock Stirrup told reporters.

Before Sunday's accident, 29 British troops had been killed in combat in Iraq and 43 more had died in non-combat incidents.

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