Hecklers removed as Petraeus ends report on Iraq

WASHINGTON - Several women were removed by police from a Congressional hearing room here after they began heckling General David Petraeus as he ended a presentation to US lawmakers on the situation in Iraq.
"This is intolerable, we will not allow it," Representative Ike Skelton, head of the House Armed Services Committee, chairing the hearing, said as police led the women, many clad in pink, out of the hearing room as they shouted anti-war slogans.
"And let everyone considering (doing the same) understand that they will be prosecuted," Skelton added.
Petraeus had just delivered a report in which he said the military objectives of the surge "are in large measure being met."
He said US troop numbers in Iraq could be gradually reduced to reach pre-surge levels by mid-July 2008.
kdz/mac

09/10/2007 18:15 GMT