] MIAMI (AP) - Surviving members of a family whose van was
] fired on by troops in Iraq said they were traveling
] toward allied lines because they thought an air-dropped
] leaflet had advised them to flee for safety.
]
] In a report published Wednesday in the Miami Herald and
] other Knight Ridder newspapers, Bakhat Hassan said
] American soldiers had waved his family's car through a
] checkpoint as they left their village Monday. But at the
] next checkpoint, the soldiers fired.
]
] ``We were thinking these Americans want us to be safe,''
] Hassan, 35, said through a translator.
]
] Hassan, interviewed Tuesday by a Knight Ridder
] correspondent at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital near
] Najaf, said 11 members of his family were killed in the
] incident - his daughters, aged 2 and 5, his son, 3, his
] parents, two older brothers, their wives and two nieces,
] ages 12 and 15. His wife, Lamea, who is nine-months
] pregnant, said she saw her children die.

Family Slain at Checkpoint Sought Safety