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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqis Say Foreigners and Radical Clerics Control Fallujah |
| 2004-06-22 |
| From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty On 5 June, six Shiâa truck drivers were kidnapped while delivering goods to the Sunni flashpoint city of Al-Fallujah, west of the capital Baghdad. Their mutilated bodies were found outside the city a week later. Relatives of the slain Iraqis who went to Al-Fallujah to try to negotiate their release say foreign fighters and radical Sunni clerics have the upper hand in the town, and that local Iraqi security forces are doing nothing to stop them. .... The testimony of those Iraqis who visited Al-Fallujah seeking the release of their relatives offers a glimpse into the situation. "The bodies were mutilated, tortured, with electricity, maybe by acid, by fire. Neither a Muslim nor a heathen can do this type of thing." Al-Khaj Khairi is the uncle of Basim Muhammad Tahresh, one of the Shiâa drivers killed in Al-Fallujah. He ... went to the city seeking to negotiate the release of his nephew and saw Iraqi radicals in control and armed fighters from all over the Arab world. "Some of them are from outside Iraq -- from all Arab countries," he said. "I heard that Omar al-Hadidi, the head of [the radical Islamic movement] Al-Jamaâa al-Salafiya al-Mujahida had [the drivers], and he is an Iraqi. All the groups are under his command, and with them are Arab groups. I saw them with my own eyes -- Tunisians, Sudanese, Yemenis. I saw them with my own eyes." Khair Abas Abid said his son Ylais and his brother Hammad were also killed in Al-Fallujah. He said he and his relatives went many times to Al-Fallujah to negotiate their release and saw what he described as many armed foreigners roaming the town. "We found Syrians, Palestinians, and we found suicide bombers in the houses, and they call themselves Muslims," he said. "And Al-Fallujah is isolated from all Iraq. The police and the army are collaborating with [local Sunni leader] Abdullah Janabi." Abid said he spoke with Janabi several times and that Janabi explained that the drivers were being interrogated. But Janabi insisted he did not know who was interrogating them. Negotiations to secure the release of the truck drivers dragged on for more than a week until Abid lost his patience. Several days later, after the talks collapsed, Abid said he was informed that the bodies of his loved ones were in the morgue in the city of Al-Ramadi, some 100 kilometers west of Al-Fallujah. He said his brother had six daughters and two sons. "These people call themselves mujahedin, but can a mujahedin perform this kind of cruelty if he is fighting for a cause of God?" Abid asked. "They are outside of Islam." .... Khairi ... found the body of his nephew in Al-Ramadiâs morgue. He said it was so mutilated that he was almost impossible to recognize. "The bodies were mutilated, tortured, with electricity, maybe by acid, by fire," he said. "Neither a Muslim nor a heathen can do this type of thing." Khairi and Abid said fighters in Al-Fallujah accused the truck drivers of being U.S. spies. In fact, they said, they were hired by a Syrian company to transport goods to Iraq. The drivers had made one delivery to Al-Basrah and were due to take a cargo of tents to Al-Fallujah. Abid said he is certain the drivers were killed for more sectarian reasons. "They were killed because they were Shiâa,â he said. â[There was a tattoo] with the name Ali [the first Shiâa imam] on [my sonâs hand], and it was cut to pieces. My brother was carrying a picture of [Grand Ayatollah Ali al-] Sistani. His body was cut into pieces with a sword. No human in the universe will accept it. The people [who did this] are not humans." Abid said members of both the local Iraqi police and army were not helpful. He said his younger son, also a driver, was wounded in the attack but managed to escape and sought shelter among Iraqi troops based near Al-Fallujah. He said several U.S. soldiers happened upon the scene and asked what had happened to the injured man. The Iraqi soldiers told the U.S. troops that he was a thief. Abid said that only the presence of the U.S. soldiers saved the young manâs life. "This army is not an Iraqi army," Abid said. ... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #3 It is my hope that the new Iraqi government will shine a bright light on this Sodom and Gomorrah and use the Iraqi army to squash all the cockroaches that come skittering out. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-22 11:10:11 PM |
| #2 I really don't understand why the Marines turned loose this star-crossed Fallujah Brigade. It appears that they aren't worth a bucket of hog drool. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-22 11:07:16 PM |
| #1 Old news-- but still depressing! THIS cheers me up a bit, though. |
| Posted by: Wuzzalib 2004-06-22 8:07:27 PM |