US Downplays Report on Navy Pilot in Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 12, 2002

US Downplays Report on Navy Pilot in Iraq

U.S. officials on Monday downplayed a newspaper's report that a U.S. Navy pilot believed to have been killed in action during the Gulf War might be alive in Iraq.

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U.S. officials on Monday downplayed a newspaper's report that a U.S. Navy pilot believed to have been killed in action during the Gulf War might be alive in Iraq.

The Washington Times reported on Monday that U.S. intelligence agencies had obtained new information indicating Iraq is holding U. S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher.

"If Scott Speicher were still alive, (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein would have brought him out for propaganda," a Pentagon official told reports.

Another Pentagon official said, "This story has been out once or twice already."

The official said he had no knowledge of any recent information to support the idea, including and beyond the time span the newspaper cited.

Speicher's F/A-18 aircraft was shot down by Iraqi military fire on January 17, 1991, the first day the United States launched air attacks on Iraq. He was placed on missing in action status the next day.

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