Iraq: News from Bagdad
Helen Williams | 15.01.2005 12:06
Some friends have recently arrived in Amman from Bagdad with news of the rapidly deteriorating situation there.
Election poster - Iraq style!
Hi Amman 12 January 2005
Some friends have recently arrived in Amman from Bagdad with news of the rapidly deteriorating situation there.
I have talked of 'Wissam' before.
Wissam, 32, is from Adhimaya, Bagdad, a predominantly Sunni area which has seen more unwarranted American attacks than many other area of the city. He is married with 2 small children.
I first met Wissam during Ramadan, November 2003. He was not well as he was not sleeping. The Americans had been flying low level helicopters over the neighbourhood night after night until 4 am keeping him awake. Then it was time for him to get up for food and prayers before the daily fast began. He has had his house raided and been imprisoned and beaten by the Americans.
Wissam is an exceptionally brave man dedicated to freeing Iraq of the hated occupation. He takes films of anything he can to help tell the truth about what is going on, to show what is really happening. He is also a guard at Abu Hanifa Mosque, a huge and important mosque in Adhimaya which was damaged in the war.
He told us about the current situation in Bagdad. Electricity is down to half - one hour in the morning in his area. Sometimes there is no electricity for two days at a time. Wissam hates the noise from the generator and does not want to disturb his neighbour, so hardly ever puts it on, preferring peace and quiet, but this is hard to come by in Bagdad, a city full of generators.
He says hardly anyone he has spoken to intends to vote - they do not see the point (they do not know anything about the candidates) or they are too scared.
Wissam is angry about all the talk of civil war, saying that, on the whole, there are no problems at all between Sunni and Shia - just the problems Allawi and the Americans want to create and told us of an incident that took place a few months ago:
Some Shia people were walking through Adhimaya to Khadimaya to the Shrine of Imam Khadim to commemmorate his death. It is traditional for people to walk to shrines/mosques on certain holy days in an act of pilgrimage. Some of our neighbours had taken part on this particular night.
When the Shia people passed through Adhimaya they saw Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) who they, like the majority of the population, hate. They began hitting them with shoes (one of the highest insults an Arab can pay another) to send them away. As a result of this non-deadly action. the ING opened fire, murdering 7 of the Shia. The Sunni men in the neighbourhood came to assisstance of the Shia, telling them to move aside. They then unleashed an attack on the ING, killing around 20.
When the annihilation of Fallujah began, Friday prayers in Abu Hanifa Mosque were full of encouragement to join the Resistance and fight.
One day the American base nearby was attacked during roll call by a mortar/rocket fired from near, but not from, the mosque. Many US soldiers were killed or injured.
An Iraqi Policeman (IP) approached the mosque while Wissam was on guard duty. The IP said it was believed that the Mujahadeen were attacking the police and American soldiers from inside the mosque. The police wanted to check the mosque and use it as a position for themselves to fight from. Obviously Wissam did not let him enter the mosque, informing the policeman truthfully that the mosque was not being used to launch attacks and that weapons are NEVER allowed in the mosque. The policeman then threatened to tell the Americans that the mosque was full of Mujahadeen and weapons.
Following this, an ING came along with US soldiers asking to go in and check the mosque, after the policeman had made his report. Wissam again refused them entry for the same reason. The ING seemed to be understanding, explained the situation to the Americans and they all went away.
Then the following Friday, the Americans and ING unleashed a lethal attack on the mosque during Friday prayers.In an attempt to arrest the sheikh who was leading Friday prayers and telling people to fight, the Americans murdered 5 people. (Because of this the attack made world news.) Many more were injured or arrested.
The sheikh changed his robe and imama for a dishdasha and yeshmack and was hurried away form the mosque amid the turmoil.
The soldiers were throwing sound bombs, there was smoke everywhere and the women started panicking. Wissam tried to keep them calm and away from danger. Then he went to his car to fetch his camera to video what was happening. An American soldier took his camera, although later an ING returned it - minus film. Wissam hid it under a carpet in the mosque. (Later he found 4 video tapes missing from the boot of his car, where he hides them for safe keeping in case his house is raided again. The boot had been shot open and his precious, vital, eye witness work had been taken.)
At the end of the raid and onslaught the Americans lined all the men up, deciding who to arrest. When they came to Wissam they could not decide what to do. They were saying "Yes/No" as if they were playing a game. then a soldier recognised him as having been arrested before, so Wissam was arrested and detained for several days.
Wissam told us that when someone is arrested they are asked is they are Sunni or Shia. He says, quite rightly, that everyone should say "Iraqi and Muslim". This is what he always does and did so on this occasion 3 times, in spite of an ING burning his hand with a cigarette. In the end, Wissam said, if someone does not say, they write down "Sunni - bad" next to your name.
I asked him about foreign kidnappings. Wissam said that he had heard that the media were being prevented from reporting kidnappings of foreigners by the Americans. Of course, the up to 7 kidnappings a week of wealthier Iraqis in Bagdad alone for ransom money is not even newsworthy.
Another thing he had heard was that all communications within Iraq and between Iraq and the outside world would be cut in the run up to and during the election. This includes all telephone and internet communication. This is in an attempt to stop the Resistance co-ordinating and organising at this time.
On a much happier note, Wissam had news of Junis and his brothers, imprisoned after their home was raided and they were beaten up on 23 Septmeber 2003. The story of this long suffering family has been told in previous reports. Held on a trumped up and ridiculous charge of 'planning the assassination of Tony Blair', these men were finally released 4 months ago from the notorious Abu Gharib Prison. Junis has since married and is working. During the raid on the house, the American soldiers had stolen all his wedding money.
****************************
Our friend, Raid, has recently spent about two months in Bagdad and has now returned safely to Amman. He said things are so much worse in Bagdad now. The city, the people are more worried and tense and he feels that over 70% of the population will not vote, although more in the south might.
There are more bombings and shootings now and one day he heard gunshots very close to his house near Palestine Street. Later he saw a man lying in the street, dead, about 3 doors away from his own house.
In his area they are getting about one hour of electricity in the morning and evening. (We were used to 3 hrs on/3 hrs off, sometimes dipping to 2 hrs on/4 hrs off and when we left it was up to 4 hrs on/2 hrs off.)
Petrol queues have gone up from 7 - 10 hours to two days long. Men actually have to sleep in their cars for one or two nights to fill up, so they do not lose their place in the queue. (I guess the Americans figure if men are queuing they cannot be resisting, not realising that in these queues men have plenty of time to talk, plan and become more angry and resentful.)
And even more alarming is the price of gas bottles. When we last bought on 3 months ago the cost was 2000 dinar (80p). Now the price is 10000 dinar (4 pounds) a bottle - still cheap by UK standards - but imagine what this price hike does to the average poor Iraqi familly struggling to get by in ever worsening conditions.
Raid also visited Fallujah refugees in great need living in a school building on Haifa Street, a Mujahadeen stronghold. many of these refugees are saying that they will not return to their home while the Americans are still in their town. Indeed all homes there, if not completely flattened, are uninhabitable due to damage caused by the American bombardment.
Raid believes that the kidnappings are not the work of the likes of the Mujahadeen or the Mahdi Army - true Resistance against the occupation. These real Muslim men would never harm or touch a woman and most speak out against such deeds. He feels that it is criminal ganags or other elements at work that murder their hostages and claim it in hte name of Resistance. So it really depends on who one is kidnapped by as to their fate.
I also asked Raid about the American presence in Bagdad now. He said the soldiers are scared, jumpy and nervous. And also that not so many humvees are seen out and about now. Will this mean less roadside bombs in the city centre now?
He also said that the highway from Bagdad to the border was closed near Fallujah and they had needed to detour around back roads to leave Iraq.
*********************************
Some Internationals who have recently returned from Bagdad kept a very low profile while there. Covering up/dressing appropriately was essential at all times and going out on the streets was not an option. Going out at all had to be meticulously planned, only going with a trusted driver (not taxis), and knowing where you were going and at what time, and only being out for a few hours was vital to keep safe. Indeed going out could only be undertaken with extreme risk and caution and then only every 2 or 3 days and at different times from the last trip out.
A man I spoke to, recently returned from Bagdad, reported always being careful and on the lookout when outdoors. And always going by car and feeling very tense and paranoid if another car pulled up alongside, slowed down, seemed to be following etc.
*********************************
It has been greeted with surprise the news that Eyad Allawi is to stand for election in the upcoming Iraqi poll. Many Iraqis here cannot imagine who would vote for him, seeing him as no better than Saddam himself. But then we must consider all the so-called Iraqi exiles, those living abroad. They are being strongly encouraged to vote and many will possibly vote for Allawi - the West leaning man of big business - like many of the rich exiles. He is America's man and choice.
Posters are up everywhere in Amman, indeed all over Jordan. Our favorite Iraqi restaurant has one (and smaller versions as leaflets on the counter), so does every other Iraqi and Iraqi run establishment - the Iraqi Airlines offices, Barber shops run by Iraqis and hotels.
There are even billboard signs showing an Iraqi man going to vote, a backdrop of Amman behind him and another showing 5 Iraqis from all different sections fo the community wearing from traditional clothing (dishdasha and yeshmack) to 'modern' Western attire.
These posters and leaflets tell Iraqis living abroad that they have a voice in Iraq's future. But the people they are reaching out to may have been away from Iraq for years and have no idea of the true current situation on the ground there. How then are these people in a real position to make any decision about the future of Iraq when they do not know what is really going on there?
*************************************
As I have mentioned before, there are many Iraqis living here in Amman. many young Iraqi men live in our neighbourhood sharing spartan digs and cooking food comunally on one gas burner. They work hard and live cheaply in order to send as much money home to their fmailies as possible. Often they are overstayers on their 3 monthe visas here and end up needing to cross the border to get a new 3 month stamp in their passport (a risky business as they can always be refused re-entry) or they are faced with a one and a half JD (1.20 pounds) fine per day of overstay and imprisonment if they do not pay, until they pay. They can try to get up to a 3 month extension on their visa but unlike me, being British, they have to go to the Ministry of Interior. Here they fill in forms and hand them in with a copy of their passport and are then given a two week appointment to return - and that is only the ones with a 'good enough reason to stay'. In these two weeks the Jordanian intelligence services scrutinise the passport and look into the person before allowing them to stay - so, you see, the 3 month extension is virtually impossible to come by. I, however, almost automatically received a 3 month extension to my visa, no questions asked.
To this end we often see big cars of GMCs loaded up with groups of men returning to Iraq. We saw one yesterday. A battered old GMC was piled about one and a half metres high on the roof with frigde, cupboards, mattresses etc and looked like it was all about to tumble off. 5 men were preparing to return home and the rest of the neighbourhood had come out to see them off.
As I watched them leave, I wonder what they will face on their return home, what the future holds and whether they are excited or scared.
Hasan, our friend, cannot return and he longs to. I have you about him before. One night we were in his appartment watching the news. The Governor of Bagdad had been assassinated. Hasan suddenly got up and started pointing at the TV shouting "Look, look at this street. I used to walk along there to school for 6 years." he sat down sadly - here was a street he had walked along safely as a child day after day in a city and country he cannot now return to.
All for now
Helen Williams
Amman Jordan
Some friends have recently arrived in Amman from Bagdad with news of the rapidly deteriorating situation there.
I have talked of 'Wissam' before.
Wissam, 32, is from Adhimaya, Bagdad, a predominantly Sunni area which has seen more unwarranted American attacks than many other area of the city. He is married with 2 small children.
I first met Wissam during Ramadan, November 2003. He was not well as he was not sleeping. The Americans had been flying low level helicopters over the neighbourhood night after night until 4 am keeping him awake. Then it was time for him to get up for food and prayers before the daily fast began. He has had his house raided and been imprisoned and beaten by the Americans.
Wissam is an exceptionally brave man dedicated to freeing Iraq of the hated occupation. He takes films of anything he can to help tell the truth about what is going on, to show what is really happening. He is also a guard at Abu Hanifa Mosque, a huge and important mosque in Adhimaya which was damaged in the war.
He told us about the current situation in Bagdad. Electricity is down to half - one hour in the morning in his area. Sometimes there is no electricity for two days at a time. Wissam hates the noise from the generator and does not want to disturb his neighbour, so hardly ever puts it on, preferring peace and quiet, but this is hard to come by in Bagdad, a city full of generators.
He says hardly anyone he has spoken to intends to vote - they do not see the point (they do not know anything about the candidates) or they are too scared.
Wissam is angry about all the talk of civil war, saying that, on the whole, there are no problems at all between Sunni and Shia - just the problems Allawi and the Americans want to create and told us of an incident that took place a few months ago:
Some Shia people were walking through Adhimaya to Khadimaya to the Shrine of Imam Khadim to commemmorate his death. It is traditional for people to walk to shrines/mosques on certain holy days in an act of pilgrimage. Some of our neighbours had taken part on this particular night.
When the Shia people passed through Adhimaya they saw Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) who they, like the majority of the population, hate. They began hitting them with shoes (one of the highest insults an Arab can pay another) to send them away. As a result of this non-deadly action. the ING opened fire, murdering 7 of the Shia. The Sunni men in the neighbourhood came to assisstance of the Shia, telling them to move aside. They then unleashed an attack on the ING, killing around 20.
When the annihilation of Fallujah began, Friday prayers in Abu Hanifa Mosque were full of encouragement to join the Resistance and fight.
One day the American base nearby was attacked during roll call by a mortar/rocket fired from near, but not from, the mosque. Many US soldiers were killed or injured.
An Iraqi Policeman (IP) approached the mosque while Wissam was on guard duty. The IP said it was believed that the Mujahadeen were attacking the police and American soldiers from inside the mosque. The police wanted to check the mosque and use it as a position for themselves to fight from. Obviously Wissam did not let him enter the mosque, informing the policeman truthfully that the mosque was not being used to launch attacks and that weapons are NEVER allowed in the mosque. The policeman then threatened to tell the Americans that the mosque was full of Mujahadeen and weapons.
Following this, an ING came along with US soldiers asking to go in and check the mosque, after the policeman had made his report. Wissam again refused them entry for the same reason. The ING seemed to be understanding, explained the situation to the Americans and they all went away.
Then the following Friday, the Americans and ING unleashed a lethal attack on the mosque during Friday prayers.In an attempt to arrest the sheikh who was leading Friday prayers and telling people to fight, the Americans murdered 5 people. (Because of this the attack made world news.) Many more were injured or arrested.
The sheikh changed his robe and imama for a dishdasha and yeshmack and was hurried away form the mosque amid the turmoil.
The soldiers were throwing sound bombs, there was smoke everywhere and the women started panicking. Wissam tried to keep them calm and away from danger. Then he went to his car to fetch his camera to video what was happening. An American soldier took his camera, although later an ING returned it - minus film. Wissam hid it under a carpet in the mosque. (Later he found 4 video tapes missing from the boot of his car, where he hides them for safe keeping in case his house is raided again. The boot had been shot open and his precious, vital, eye witness work had been taken.)
At the end of the raid and onslaught the Americans lined all the men up, deciding who to arrest. When they came to Wissam they could not decide what to do. They were saying "Yes/No" as if they were playing a game. then a soldier recognised him as having been arrested before, so Wissam was arrested and detained for several days.
Wissam told us that when someone is arrested they are asked is they are Sunni or Shia. He says, quite rightly, that everyone should say "Iraqi and Muslim". This is what he always does and did so on this occasion 3 times, in spite of an ING burning his hand with a cigarette. In the end, Wissam said, if someone does not say, they write down "Sunni - bad" next to your name.
I asked him about foreign kidnappings. Wissam said that he had heard that the media were being prevented from reporting kidnappings of foreigners by the Americans. Of course, the up to 7 kidnappings a week of wealthier Iraqis in Bagdad alone for ransom money is not even newsworthy.
Another thing he had heard was that all communications within Iraq and between Iraq and the outside world would be cut in the run up to and during the election. This includes all telephone and internet communication. This is in an attempt to stop the Resistance co-ordinating and organising at this time.
On a much happier note, Wissam had news of Junis and his brothers, imprisoned after their home was raided and they were beaten up on 23 Septmeber 2003. The story of this long suffering family has been told in previous reports. Held on a trumped up and ridiculous charge of 'planning the assassination of Tony Blair', these men were finally released 4 months ago from the notorious Abu Gharib Prison. Junis has since married and is working. During the raid on the house, the American soldiers had stolen all his wedding money.
****************************
Our friend, Raid, has recently spent about two months in Bagdad and has now returned safely to Amman. He said things are so much worse in Bagdad now. The city, the people are more worried and tense and he feels that over 70% of the population will not vote, although more in the south might.
There are more bombings and shootings now and one day he heard gunshots very close to his house near Palestine Street. Later he saw a man lying in the street, dead, about 3 doors away from his own house.
In his area they are getting about one hour of electricity in the morning and evening. (We were used to 3 hrs on/3 hrs off, sometimes dipping to 2 hrs on/4 hrs off and when we left it was up to 4 hrs on/2 hrs off.)
Petrol queues have gone up from 7 - 10 hours to two days long. Men actually have to sleep in their cars for one or two nights to fill up, so they do not lose their place in the queue. (I guess the Americans figure if men are queuing they cannot be resisting, not realising that in these queues men have plenty of time to talk, plan and become more angry and resentful.)
And even more alarming is the price of gas bottles. When we last bought on 3 months ago the cost was 2000 dinar (80p). Now the price is 10000 dinar (4 pounds) a bottle - still cheap by UK standards - but imagine what this price hike does to the average poor Iraqi familly struggling to get by in ever worsening conditions.
Raid also visited Fallujah refugees in great need living in a school building on Haifa Street, a Mujahadeen stronghold. many of these refugees are saying that they will not return to their home while the Americans are still in their town. Indeed all homes there, if not completely flattened, are uninhabitable due to damage caused by the American bombardment.
Raid believes that the kidnappings are not the work of the likes of the Mujahadeen or the Mahdi Army - true Resistance against the occupation. These real Muslim men would never harm or touch a woman and most speak out against such deeds. He feels that it is criminal ganags or other elements at work that murder their hostages and claim it in hte name of Resistance. So it really depends on who one is kidnapped by as to their fate.
I also asked Raid about the American presence in Bagdad now. He said the soldiers are scared, jumpy and nervous. And also that not so many humvees are seen out and about now. Will this mean less roadside bombs in the city centre now?
He also said that the highway from Bagdad to the border was closed near Fallujah and they had needed to detour around back roads to leave Iraq.
*********************************
Some Internationals who have recently returned from Bagdad kept a very low profile while there. Covering up/dressing appropriately was essential at all times and going out on the streets was not an option. Going out at all had to be meticulously planned, only going with a trusted driver (not taxis), and knowing where you were going and at what time, and only being out for a few hours was vital to keep safe. Indeed going out could only be undertaken with extreme risk and caution and then only every 2 or 3 days and at different times from the last trip out.
A man I spoke to, recently returned from Bagdad, reported always being careful and on the lookout when outdoors. And always going by car and feeling very tense and paranoid if another car pulled up alongside, slowed down, seemed to be following etc.
*********************************
It has been greeted with surprise the news that Eyad Allawi is to stand for election in the upcoming Iraqi poll. Many Iraqis here cannot imagine who would vote for him, seeing him as no better than Saddam himself. But then we must consider all the so-called Iraqi exiles, those living abroad. They are being strongly encouraged to vote and many will possibly vote for Allawi - the West leaning man of big business - like many of the rich exiles. He is America's man and choice.
Posters are up everywhere in Amman, indeed all over Jordan. Our favorite Iraqi restaurant has one (and smaller versions as leaflets on the counter), so does every other Iraqi and Iraqi run establishment - the Iraqi Airlines offices, Barber shops run by Iraqis and hotels.
There are even billboard signs showing an Iraqi man going to vote, a backdrop of Amman behind him and another showing 5 Iraqis from all different sections fo the community wearing from traditional clothing (dishdasha and yeshmack) to 'modern' Western attire.
These posters and leaflets tell Iraqis living abroad that they have a voice in Iraq's future. But the people they are reaching out to may have been away from Iraq for years and have no idea of the true current situation on the ground there. How then are these people in a real position to make any decision about the future of Iraq when they do not know what is really going on there?
*************************************
As I have mentioned before, there are many Iraqis living here in Amman. many young Iraqi men live in our neighbourhood sharing spartan digs and cooking food comunally on one gas burner. They work hard and live cheaply in order to send as much money home to their fmailies as possible. Often they are overstayers on their 3 monthe visas here and end up needing to cross the border to get a new 3 month stamp in their passport (a risky business as they can always be refused re-entry) or they are faced with a one and a half JD (1.20 pounds) fine per day of overstay and imprisonment if they do not pay, until they pay. They can try to get up to a 3 month extension on their visa but unlike me, being British, they have to go to the Ministry of Interior. Here they fill in forms and hand them in with a copy of their passport and are then given a two week appointment to return - and that is only the ones with a 'good enough reason to stay'. In these two weeks the Jordanian intelligence services scrutinise the passport and look into the person before allowing them to stay - so, you see, the 3 month extension is virtually impossible to come by. I, however, almost automatically received a 3 month extension to my visa, no questions asked.
To this end we often see big cars of GMCs loaded up with groups of men returning to Iraq. We saw one yesterday. A battered old GMC was piled about one and a half metres high on the roof with frigde, cupboards, mattresses etc and looked like it was all about to tumble off. 5 men were preparing to return home and the rest of the neighbourhood had come out to see them off.
As I watched them leave, I wonder what they will face on their return home, what the future holds and whether they are excited or scared.
Hasan, our friend, cannot return and he longs to. I have you about him before. One night we were in his appartment watching the news. The Governor of Bagdad had been assassinated. Hasan suddenly got up and started pointing at the TV shouting "Look, look at this street. I used to walk along there to school for 6 years." he sat down sadly - here was a street he had walked along safely as a child day after day in a city and country he cannot now return to.
All for now
Helen Williams
Amman Jordan
Helen Williams
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