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Army studies changes after suicides among troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON - A major Army study has found that suicide-prevention teams were left behind when units left their home bases to go to war in Iraq, mental health workers felt untrained to treat combat stress, and many soldiers seeking help for depression and emotional problems faced significant hurdles getting care.

The study, the first of its kind conducted in a combat zone, also determined that the suicide rate of soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait last year was much higher than in the Army overall, but lower than in comparable age groups of U.S. civilians.

There were 23 suicides among U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait last year, all but one by gunshot, and mostly involving young, enlisted white men who were having financial problems, failed personal relationships or legal problems, Army officials said.

That overall number equates to a suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, compared with a rate of 12.8 for the Army overall last year, and an average rate of 11.9 for the Army from 1995 to 2002, Army officials said. The civilian rate for 18- to 34-year-olds, which is the age range of most soldiers, is 21.5 per 100,000.

In one of the most startling findings of the study, which late last summer surveyed more than 750 soldiers, most of whom had been in combat, 52 percent of the troops said their morale was low or very low, and 72 percent said their unit's morale was that bad.

But in releasing their findings Thursday, senior Army medical officials said that they had found no connection between the suicides and the other factors.

Army officials said senior officials and commanders were rushing to institute many recommendations offered by the 38-page study, including putting more Army psychiatrists and mental health specialists at lower levels in the field in combat zones, revamping reporting procedures for soldiers' needing care, and monitoring reports of suicide attempts as well as suicides.

MEXICO CITY - Five members of a British armed forces expedition and their British guide were rescued Thursday after being trapped for a week in a flooded cave in central Mexico in an incident that has chilled relations with London.

President Vicente Fox has asked his ambassador in London to seek a "detailed, clear and rapid" explanation from the British government of what the British military officers were doing in Mexican caves, a spokesman in the president's office said Thursday.

Mexican officials said they should have been notified that there was a foreign military team in Mexico. The spelunking team was made up of British navy, air force and army personnel who entered the country on tourist visas.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will take permanent asylum in South Africa but not until it holds general elections next month, Jamaican officials said Thursday.

But a spokesman for Aristide said it was too soon to say for sure where he would go.

"Mr. Aristide is still in consultation. A final decision has not been made," Huntley Medley said by telephone from Jamaica. "The discussions are continuing with several places and people."

The Jamaican officials said on condition of anonymity that South African President Thabo Mbeki's government believes the delay is necessary because it could be politically unsettling before the April 14 election.

25 KILLED IN IVORY COAST: Violent clashes erupted on the streets of Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, on Thursday, killing 25 people, prompting rebels to withdraw from a power-sharing government and raising new doubts about the prospects for disarmament. Antigovernment protesters, in defiance of a ban on demonstrations, tried to march to denounce what they called President Laurent Gbagbo's failure to carry out the peace plan.

QUAKE IN TURKEY: A strong earthquake shook eastern Turkey on Thursday, collapsing several homes and killing at least seven people, including four children, an official said. The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1, was centered in the town of Cat, 540 miles east of Ankara, the capital, the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory said. It occurred at 9:30 p.m.

INDIA TESTS MISSILE: India tested its most sophisticated short-range missile Thursday, the Defense Ministry said. The solid fuel-propelled Trishul missile, which has a range of 6 miles, can target aircraft and sea-skimming missiles.