Tigris search continues; Worrying move for coalition

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Search operations in the muddy waters of the Tigris river for a US soldier and two pilots, missing after a helicopter crashed while searching for a river patrol boat that had capsized, were continued Monday, but hopes were fading of recovering them alive.

The OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter splashed down Sunday in the Tigris river near the northern city of Mosul shortly after the boat overturned at 5:15 pm (1415 GMT), leaving two Iraqi police and a translator dead.

Separately, in a worrying shift for the coalition, some members of the interim Governing Council are now siding with Ayatullah Ali As-Sistani, the election campaign's standard bearer.

“Our discussion has moved to what we should tell the UN mission due to come here to study the possibility of holding elections,” said Council member Muwaffak Ar-Rubaie after holding meeting with the Ayatullah in the holy city of Najaf.

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