Footballers to salute 'Saddam's hostage'

By Kathryn Westcott BBC News Online

On Sunday afternoon, as families in Jacksonville, Florida, get ready to cheer on their sporting heroes - a different kind of "hero" thousands of miles away in the Middle East will be saluted.

The Jaguars - Jacksonville's National Football League team - will pay tribute to Navy Captain Scott Speicher, who many believe is being held captive in Iraq, before their game with the New York Jets.

Capt Speicher - a local boy and football lover - was the first official casualty of the Gulf War.

There is room for Saddam Hussein to win a lot of support in the world by letting Scott go

Jim Stafford

During the early hours of 17 January 1991, in the first bombing missions of the Gulf War, Lieutenant Commander Michael Scott Speicher's FA-18 Hornet jet was downed by a missile as he flew over the Iraqi desert.

The airman has been promoted twice in his absence - most recently to captain.

Capt Speicher was immediately declared dead by the Pentagon. But last year, his status was changed from killed in action to missing in action, based on new evidence that he survived the crash.

A group of his former high school friends - who have organised Sunday's tribute - have been lobbying the government for many years to do more to find out what happened to Capt Speicher. And, for some time, they have had the ear of a number of Senators on Capitol Hill.

But, with talk of war in Washington, the case of the missing airman has again re-emerged into the American conscience.

Renewed interest

Jim Stafford, a high school friend and spokesman for Friends to Free Scott Speicher agrees there is more focus on Scott's case now.

"It is in the spotlight now because of the sabre rattling in Washington," he told BBC News Online.

Capt Speicher's plane was shot down on the first night of bombing

"But there are senators in Congress who have been pushing his cause for a long time."

Part of that push is a bill that has already been approved by the Senate offering asylum to foreign nationals to return the airman to America.

Mr Stafford says the indications are that it has a good chance of passage in the House.

Another optimistic sign that the case is taking on new momentum is the fact that Navy Secretary Gordon England is considering another reclassification of Capt Speicher to prisoner of war status.

And, in a recent keynote speech to the United Nations, President George W Bush used the fate of the missing airman as part of his argument for action in Iraq.

Political tool?

But these moves have led some to question why Capt Spechier's case has come to the fore now.

As far as him being a reason not to go to war - I can't say that

Jim Stafford

They argue that the reference to the missing airman is a new level in Washington's anti-Iraq rhetoric, and that hardliners in the Bush administration are using him to push their case for an invasion in Iraq.

Mr Stafford agrees that Mr Bush may be trying to get American sentiment behind him but argues that that is the president's "job".

"This is an American soldier and the American people should rally behind this guy," Mr Stafford says.

"Here in America, there are people who say this is reason 39 for going to war with Iraq - that Bush is using this as a reason for going to war - but this is a cynical way of looking at it.

"American people value their heroes and Scott is a hero - if we thought the president was using this as a reason to go after Saddam Hussein, we would be the first people to say 'No'."

He said he supported the president in the fight against terrorism and believed the administration would do the right thing by Capt Speicher.

Bargaining chip

Many people believe the airman is being held as a trophy prisoner until Saddam Hussein feels he needs him.

Mr Stafford says it is possible that Saddam Hussein will use him as propaganda or a bargaining chip.

The Iraqi Government denies any knowledge of Capt Speicher

"There isn't anything else I can think of - why would he keep him? The reason is Scott is probably worth more than gold to him - and I've got to believe he was kept alive for that reason."

Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, has been working hard on the Speicher case, including forging contacts with Baghdad on the issue.

He says he believes that Saddam Hussein is likely to use Capt Scott as a "wedge against the United States" if he is still alive.

If he's not, he says, he'll try to "create the illusion, by a strong silence, that he might be alive."

Mr Stafford remains optimistic that Saddam Hussein could agree to turn him over.

"As hard as Bush comes off sounding about Iraq, there is still room for diplomacy. There is room for Saddam Hussein to win a lot of support in the world by letting Scott go," he says.

But, if not, Capt Speicher's life would certainly be endangered by a military strike.

"There is a very strong possibility," agrees Mr Stafford. "But the fact of the matter is that you have a guy that has been there for 11 years and you have a country that has denied having him."

"When he put his uniform and climbed into his jet that night, he was willing to give his live for his country. As far as him being a reason not to go to war - I can't say that. There's a bigger picture than me and a bigger picture than one person."

But Mr Stafford is optimistic that it may not come to that.

"My true feeling is that the present situation is going to open dialogue on the guy and some way we're going to luck out and get him home."