Bulgaria blames communication in death
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-09 21:18

SOFIA, Bulgaria - The lack of direct communication between Bulgarian and U.S. troops was the probable cause of last week's killing of a Bulgarian soldier in Iraq in a suspected "friendly fire" incident, a top military official said Wednesday.

Army chief of staff Gen. Nikola Kolev said the two forces had not yet agreed on how to communicate with each other when Pvt. Gardi Gardev was fatally shot near the Iraqi city of Diwaniya on Friday.

The Bulgarian investigation found that Gardev was killed by U.S. troops guarding a military communications site, who opened fire on his patrol after it fired warning shots to stop an Iraqi civilian car.

"On March 2, all U.S. military sites were marked on the Bulgarian patrols' maps, but the issue for establishing means of direct communication with the U.S. troops was left to be decided in the next few days," Kolev said.

The incident happened after dark, and the situation was aggravated by the fact that the Bulgarian patrol had lost GPS orientation and contact with their base, Kolev said.

On the same day, American troops opened fire on a car heading for the Baghdad airport, killing an Italian intelligence agent and wounding an Italian journalist he helped rescue from insurgents.

Both incidents are being investigated by the U.S. military, an indication of the pressure being brought on the Bush administration by the few American allies that have steadfastly supported his policies in Iraq.

Kolev said the Bulgarian investigation had "no legal force," and any final conclusions should be based on the U.S. inquiry. The results of that probe will be made public Friday in Baghdad, Kolev told a news conference.

Gardev was the eighth Bulgarian soldier killed in Iraq. The Balkan country has a 460-member infantry battalion in Diwaniya.

The troops' mandate ends in mid-2005 and the government is to decide by the end of the month whether to keep troops there past July. Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov has said he sees no reason for a pullout.

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