The Clipboard: Bulgaria Blames U.S. Troops for Fatal Iraq Shooting

From an article¹:

U.S. ally Bulgaria blamed U.S. troops on Monday for the fatal shooting of one of its soldiers in Iraq and demanded punishment of those responsible.

A Bulgarian inquiry into the shooting last Friday found that soldier Gurdi Gurdev -- Bulgaria's eighth casualty since the start of the war in March 2003 -- was almost certainly killed by "friendly fire" from nearby U.S. forces.

On the same day, U.S. soldiers shot dead an Italian secret service agent as he was taking freed hostage journalist Giuliana Sgrena to safety.

Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Gurdev was killed when his unit shot warning rounds in an attempt to halt an Iraqi vehicle and then came under heavy fire.

"Someone started shooting at our patrol from the west, and in the same direction, 150 meters away, there was a unit from the U.S. Army," Svinarov told a news conference.

"The result (of the investigation) gives us enough grounds to believe the death of rifleman Gurdi Gurdev was caused by friendly fire." (link)

I have a feeling that the "coalition of the willing" aren't going to be quiet for much longer about things like this.

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Complete text of the article, Bulgaria Blames U.S. Troops for Fatal Iraq Shooting, by Michael Winfrey

U.S. ally Bulgaria blamed U.S. troops on Monday for the fatal shooting of one of its soldiers in Iraq and demanded punishment of those responsible.

A Bulgarian inquiry into the shooting last Friday found that soldier Gurdi Gurdev -- Bulgaria's eighth casualty since the start of the war in March 2003 -- was almost certainly killed by "friendly fire" from nearby U.S. forces.

On the same day, U.S. soldiers shot dead an Italian secret service agent as he was taking freed hostage journalist Giuliana Sgrena to safety.

Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Gurdev was killed when his unit shot warning rounds in an attempt to halt an Iraqi vehicle and then came under heavy fire.

"Someone started shooting at our patrol from the west, and in the same direction, 150 meters away, there was a unit from the U.S. Army," Svinarov told a news conference.

"The result (of the investigation) gives us enough grounds to believe the death of rifleman Gurdi Gurdev was caused by friendly fire."

Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and President Georgi Parvanov summoned the U.S. ambassador in Sofia, and Parvanov later criticized U.S.-led operations as badly coordinated.

"This is a grave incident, and the confirmation of the facts prompts the conclusion that there are problems in the coordination and operational interaction among the allies," the president said in a statement.

"Bulgaria has undertaken a thorough investigation and will demand punishment for the guilty," the statement said.

Bulgarian Army Chief of Staff Nikola Kolev sent a letter to U.S. military chiefs asking for an investigation to clarify what happened and prevent similar incidents in the future, Svinarov said.

Bulgaria, which joined NATO last year and is an accession candidate for the European Union, has a 430-strong peacekeeping battalion stationed in the Iraqi town of Diwaniya.

Saxe-Coburg's government is one of the United States' staunchest allies, but its military presence in Iraq is unpopular among the Balkan state's 8 million people. Analysts say it could play a role in summer parliamentary elections.

The opposition Socialists have a wide lead over Saxe-Coburg's National Movement for Simeon II party and have promised to withdraw Bulgaria's troops from Iraq if it wins the ballot and leads the next government.

reference=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7833452