European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 a a the stars and stripes tuesday january 22,1991 Jmc Jim men n Munix Tojio ,. Yit4micas6se6smse6msa Vij Yyi vmtosm6mtimma Joseph Owen is scudding into chaos Riyadh saudi Arabia a when darkness hits the Patha District the sidewalks teem with what passes for night life in Central Riyadh. The Grimy film that Coats the Carval like re Tail shops melts into the shadows and the alleys ooze a Stream of bargain Hunting pakistanis and sudanese egyptians and sri lankan and even an occasional saudi looking for a Deal after the last prayer Call of the Day. Its amazing what a scud missile Alert can do to confuse this already chaotic scene. I had just bought a new pocket tape recorder and stepped onto the Street at 9 50 . Sunday when the Wail of an air raid Siren pierced the air. Pedestrians began running to and fro like extras in a cheap 1960s japanese sea monster movie. The single tone warning Siren changed quickly to a Wavy tone that a missile attack was imminent. I ran into a nearby hotel and darted into the basement where the men using the Shower room next to the Pool Hadnot heard the warnings. A hotel employee escorted us into a weight room. We closed the Glass door and someone threw a wet Towel Down to Block any errant poisonous Gas from seeping through. I propped a sagging mattress against the door to protect against flying Glass. We listened to a shortwave radio but there was no news of an attack. Soon the employee returned and told us the Alert was Over. From the lobby upstairs we heard policemen broadcasting reassurance Over their Public address systems. The taxis and buses had disappeared. Two boys flagged Down a pickup truck and climbed into the cab. I asked if i could ride in the Back to my hotel. The Young Bushy haired Driver nodded. Ten minutes later i was in my room where i Learned that three missiles had been intercepted Over Dhahran. Saudi television was oddly uninformative it showed a lab worker shaving a Rabbit in preparation for medical experiments. I was waiting for a Call from an edit str when the sirens blared again at 12 45 a Good nights sleep apparently was not on the Agenda As i again headed into a basement shelter. 1 was one of the 14 people jammed into an a shaped room carpeted with old mattresses. Four of us donned Gas masks. The other 10, mostly teen agers did no to have any. Some of them wrapped their Gutras those arabian head coverings around their faces As if they were bracing for a sandstorm. If Gas were to seep in they Dall die i thought. At 1 . We heard several muffled explosions. The shortwave carried reports about the attack on Dhahran three hours earlier but no current news. At 1 06 ., i was the Only person still wearing a mask and i started to feel silly. Finally the All Clear signal sounded. I walked Over to the . Central Comdr a joint information Bureau. Saudi soldiers patrolled the avenues slowly in trucks with machine guns / mounted on tall tripods. A bomber from the .-led anti Iraq forces surged overhead with a throaty Roar one of Many such planes that Pune tufted the stillness during Riyadh a longest night. The information bureaus Headquarters Quot was stymied by the Quick succession of events. Reporters lounged around waiting for manna from news release heaven. A television set in the briefing room showed footage of the bombing of Bagh to dad from a few nights earlier. Quot a it kind of puts our Little thing in perspective Quot a stateside reporter mused quietly watching the iraqi capital Light up like a mutant video game. I walked Back to my hotel and into my room. It was 5 16 . Monday. Outside loudspeakers pumped out the doleful Dawn prayer Call for the Muslim faithful. A Falla he Akbar a they moaned. A god is great a War in the Gulf a c-130 transport plane lands at in Ciurlik a in Southern Turkey on saturday As labourers work in a nearby Field. Intensified raids from in Ciurlik Jar military families citizens by the los Angeles times Ankara Turkey a . Air strikes against Iraq from in Ciurlik a intensified sunday As families of american service members abandoned the base and the turkish government sought to Calm a bad Case of National War jitters. Reports of three big new raids raising to at least six the number of missions flown from Turkey since Friday came from turkish and foreign reporters camped around the perimeter of the nato base near the Southern turkish City of Adana 460 Miles from the iraqi Border. The reporters counted and photographed the jets a Between 30 and 40 aircraft per Mission a As they left Laden with bombs arid rockets. They repeated the process when the planes returned a few hours later their ordnance Gong. On an afternoon raid sunday 36 aircraft departed but Only 35 returned the reporters said in what May have been their last account. Turkish troops chased the reporters away from their lookouts sunday night. A spokeswoman for the in Ciurlik Public affairs office capt. Judy Burk told the stars and stripes on monday that she could not comment on operational matters according to turkish newspapers two Waves of american fighter bombers on saturday attacked artillery and anti aircraft emplacements in mountains not far from the Frontier. Maj. Michael Maher a spokesman at in Ciurlik said that most family members had left the base a on a voluntary basis to return to the United states. Diplomatic sources though said the family members who had been leaving in Small numbers As War approached were encouraged to leave mainly to make room for new Mili tary arrivals. The heavily guarded installations personnel strength has grown from 3, out to nearly 4,000 americans. Burk said the base is usually Home to Between 2,000 and 2,500 family members and 2,000 service members but she could not say How Many family members remained or How Large the military Force had become. Quot the turkish government has authorized us to by ing in a total of % tactical aircraft but that s say that a the number that s Here Quot she said in the past week 48 american combat aircraft Hae joined an equal number on Alert at in Ciurlik since the Gulf crisis began. In addition . Officials acknowledge that in Ciurlik also now houses a acs aircraft refuelling tankers scarch and Rescue planes and helicopters an expanded number of cargo planes and a Patriot anti missile Bat try. \ a a. Quot Quot a. A residents of the turkish Border town of silo i told turkish reporters sunday of hearing repeated explosions on the iraqi Side of the Tigris River Frontier. About 100,000 second line iraqi troops on the Frontier face a turkish that some turkish sources say has swelled in recent Days to180,000 men. When a bomb fell harmlessly into a Field near the turkish Border Village of Cire the turkish general staff quickly asserted that it had fallen from a turkish Jet on a training Mission. No turkish jets have flown outside turkish territory a spokesman said. A Turkey has authorized the use of in Ciurlik for . Raids. Bush administration officials have privately confirmed the raids but neither Ankara nor Washington officially acknowledges them. Turkeys role As springboard for second front attacks against Iraq has triggered widespread fear of iraqi retaliation. Several Hundred thousand people have fled their Homes in the turkish Southeast. A we have authorized the americans to make More extensive use of the bases. It is the governments decision not to reveal details a said foreign ministry spokesman Murat Sungar. For its part a preoccupied Iraq showed signs sunday that it was accepting turkeys no raids Story thereby avoiding any need to respond to them. Iraqis new ambassador to Turkey Rafia Muj Wel Tak Riti assured the turkish newspapers Mill yet and Gunes that iraqi president Saddam Hussein a is appalled about speculation of a possible iraqi attack on Turkey. A lie has never considered sending missiles to Turkey,&Quot.the ambassador told Gunes. To Mill yet he noted a Israel is our enemy and the saudi arabian situation is Clear. Turkey is our brother. W e Haven to done anything against Turkey. There is t to such thing in our leaders Quot
