Greg S. Renaud: My concern is with the article written on 19 November by Timofei Byelo, regarding the sinking of the Iraqi ship "Samra.”

I am unable to find another email to address letters to the editor of Pravda's English language edition. I am directing this letter to you, trusting it will be forwarded to the appropriate department.

My concern is with the article written on 19 November by Timofei Byelo, regarding the sinking of the Iraqi ship "Samra." Mr. Byelo claims the ship was sunk by a US naval vessel. This is untrue. The overloaded ship, carrying contraband oil in violation of United Nations sanctions, sank after it was boarded by US personnel who were searching for such violations. Mr. Byelo's article did correctly point out that 2 US Navy personnel were missing after the sinking, a circumstance hard to explain if he maintains that the US ship fired on an unarmed merchant ship.

This information is readily available by searching the online news databases of CNN, the International Herald Tribune, and other international sources. In fact, the only claim that the US Navy was responsible for sinking the Samra came from the Iraqi government itself, a group eager to conceal the fact that smuggled oil continues to finance its build-up of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Mr. Byelo does Pravda's readers a disservice by repeating Iraqi propaganda without attributing its source.

Thank you

Greg S. Renaud Lafayette, Colorado, USA