CONCOCTING COVER STORIES?

Last year there was a bit of a kerfuffle when two British soldiers were kidnapped at a check point. It was later revealed that the two were SAS, were dressed as locals in white and headdress, and had quite alot of explosive and fire power in the boot of their. A few days later they were broken out of the jail in which they were held by Basra authorities under suspicion of being agents provocateur. When the two SAS were sprung there was a breakdown in trust between the British and the Basra authorities because the Basrans thought they'd caught themselevs something very interesting indeed. This is all verifiable in published reports.

Now it appears the two SAS were about to be sold to insurgents for beheading!

I cannot recall this being offered as a reason at the time for the breakout.

I do however recall a number of reports from Basrans who accused the two SAS of being agents provocateur.

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=JQT3YJIV0MWKBQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/12/22/uiraq122.xml

Iraqi police arrested over SAS kidnap
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:19pm GMT 22/12/2006



A senior Iraqi policeman who allegedly masterminded the abduction of two SAS soldiers last year was arrested today following a major security operation in Basra.


Last year's rescue of two kidnapped SAS troops prompted attacks on Warrior armoured vehicles
Under cover of thick fog, 800 British troops in tanks and armoured vehicles swooped on the home of the police officer and six other Iraqi officers.

Military sources indicated that a substantial blow had been struck against the rogue militias who have been responsible for killing hundreds in Iraq's second-biggest city.

All the officers come from Basra's notorious Serious Crimes Unit. That, as one military commander said, was a "pretty appropriate" name for its activities.

The two SAS troopers were allegedly minutes away from being sold on to insurgents, and certain death, after they were abducted by rogue police at a checkpoint in the Jamiat area of Basra on Sept 19 last year.