03-07-2003, 05:29 PM
Quote:Almost all of the first British "human shields" to go to Iraq were on their way home Saturday after deciding that their much-heralded task was now too dangerous.
Two red double-decker buses slipped quietly out of Baghdad on the long journey back to Britain, carrying most of the 11 protesters with them.
Nine out of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials Friday to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country. Two left immediately by taxi and six others boarded the buses Saturday night, bound initially for Syria.
The Iraqi warning follows frustration among Saddam Hussein's officials that only about 65 of the volunteers had so far agreed to take up positions at the oil refineries, power plants and water-purification sites selected by their hosts.
It heightened fears among some peace activists that they could be stationed at noncivilian sites. Protesters who moved into the power station in south Baghdad last weekend were dismayed to find it stood next to an army base and the road south to Basra.