Anti-Iraq War U.S. Soldier to Surrender

``I have not committed a crime, and I should not run.''

Tuesday, March 16, 2004
(3:39 AM ET)
By Erik Schelzig

Associated Press Writer

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, 28, a Florida soldier who refused to return to duty in Iraq and turned himself in to military authorities Monday, March 15, 2004, saying he would seek conscientious objector status, speaks to reporters after his arrival at Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Monday, March 15, 2004, after a flight from Boston. Mejia was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty.

Image Credit: Mitchell Zachs -- AP

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. -- AP
Shaken by a gunfight in Iraq that killed innocent civilians, a 28-year-old U.S. soldier declared the invasion ``an oil-driven war'' and said he won't return to the Middle East and fight.

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, of Miami Beach, surrendered Monday at an air force base in Massachusetts, where he was ordered to report to his unit Tuesday at the North Miami Armory in suburban Miami.

His attorney, Louis Font, said he believes Mejia is the first soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq. Mejia said he would seek conscientious objector status.

Mejia was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty.

``This is an oil-driven war, and I don't think any soldier signs up to fight for oil,'' Mejia said Monday after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Mejia said he was particularly upset over an incident in which he and others were ambushed and innocent civilians were hit in the ensuing gunfire.

``That's one of the things that tells me there's no such thing as a fair war, no such thing as a just war,'' he said.

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2004 © The Associated Press.

Dan