Is today better than yesterday?
The deteriorating security situation in southern Iraq is an ominous reminder of the inability of the occupation forces to restore law and order. Judit Neurink reports from Basra and Najaf
"Why did they have to shoot him, and why did the British not protect him?" Doctor Janan Ghalib Hassan asked in a sad and enraged tone. Hassan was referring to one of her colleagues who was recently gunned down after he left his private clinic in Basra just before dark. He was just one of the many victims of the struggle that is going on in Iraq, whose fate goes unreported by the international media. News of the violent death did reach the other medical staff in Basra, however, leaving them feeling very insecure, with questions unanswered: Are the gunmen, who still operate every night when power cuts darken the town, after them? Was this an act of revenge because the doctor worked with the British?
For Dr Hassan, one thing is certain: the longer the British stay, the worse things will get. "The coalition troops have done their job, now they must go. Promises that shops will be opened and filled with merchandise not available before, that the streets will be cleaned after years of neglect, that cars can be bought without government restrictions, that new newspapers will appear and nobody will get arrested for speaking out anymore, all seem forgotten," said Hassan.
Her opinion is shared by many Basra residents who are fed up with the problems the coalition forces have not been able to solve: lack of security, power cuts, availabilty of safe drinking water and food. The first two problems are linked. Power cuts occur every few hours because of sabotage activities that include attacking the power transformers in town, and cutting and selling the copper cables outside town.
Rumours are spreading that former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'th Party are behind such acts. According to Basra's police chief Amr Karim Abdullah, remnants of the Ba'th Party pay up to $300 dollars -- an enormous amount for impoverished Iraqis -- to looters to encourage these acts. He points out that in one case, a looter accepted the money, and then reported the incident to the police so they could arrest the person who gave him the money. There is a lot of Ba'th-money going around, says Abdullah: "When you see someone who sells sandwiches suddenly driving a Mercedes, you know something is wrong."
The police station in Basra's centre is bare except for a few old desks and chairs. Everything else has been looted. Abdullah complains that his force of 160 men has to operate without patrol cars, radios or handguns. But even so, the policemen are visible: they patrol in groups of two, Kalashnikov on the shoulder, and search cars and people mainly for weapons -- still considered the biggest threat. "People in Basra are afraid, they see weapons being sold on the market," says one policeman. Abdullah adds: "We arrest anyone carrying a gun, but we only catch people on the streets. We do not enter houses to search for weapons."
Violence is still a daily occurrence in Basra. People recount finding bodies after a night of shooting, sometimes even blindfolded and tied. Some of the attacks appear to stem from religious rivalries. Alcohol has always been sold by the Christians in Basra, but in the past few months Shi'ite radicals have attacked stores selling alcohol and its shopkeepers. Three were killed, sending dozens of frightened Christian families to stay with their kin in the villages.
The kidnapping of children creates another phenomenon in Basra. This fear of abductions has kept the Chaldean archbishop in Basra from reopening four nurseries for Christian and Muslim children. His request for help from the police has not been answered, says Archbishop Gabriel Kassab. He is very negative about the situation: "It is getting worse every day."
This is partly due to the fact that the British occupation troops are hardly visible in Basra. They drive around the town in patrol vehicles, but are not seen walking the streets or helping the police. "The soldiers are afraid," says the archbishop, "they know that the Iraqis are angry because of the lack of security, electricity and water. The British hardly go to town now in uniforms and only attend mass in civilian clothes, not in uniform like before."
Meanwhile in Najaf, some 300km to the northwest, armed American soldiers watch the Iraqi police checking cars going into town. It is Friday and busy, because Shi'ites come from miles away to pray in the holy Mosque of Imam Ali. Young children watch the soldiers in a friendly fashion, not like in Basra were stones are prone to fly. "Things are fine," says a relaxed soldier. The Americans keep away from the inner centre of Najaf, around the holy shrine, where all roads have been closed to traffic since the bomb attack that killed Ayatollah Mohamed Bakir Al- Hakim. There, the Iraqi police receive support from a special new force of police guards, and from volunteers appointed by the religious authorities and local tribes. Some of them are armed, like the members of the Al-Badr Brigade, the military arm of Al-Hakim's party, which was trained in Iran. They can be found at most police checkpoints in and around Najaf, and on many main roads in the south, armed, and with a badge showing their name and picture.
Since Al-Hakim's murder, the residents of Najaf have changed their minds about security. "People did not like the police. They saw us as the long arm of Saddam. But since Al- Hakim's murder, they have realised that freedom also has its boundaries, and they are happy about the presence of the new police force," says one policeman. Youssef Mehdi Hussein, head of the main Al-Tameen tribe agrees, says that residents of Najaf have come to realise that they have to join hands to make their town safe again. But that does not mean they will agree on the American demand to turn over all weapons. Hussein shows his own permit for his weapon, saying that he will not disarm until order is restored. "But today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better still," he says of the security situation.
As in Basra, weapons are considered the main problem in Najaf. "In addition to the many guns in possession of the Ba'thists, many guns were also stolen from the army. A lot of them are sold on the black market," says Hussein. Since Al-Hakim's death, hardly any shooting has been heard. Armed guards have taken up the main positions in town, and even the communications tower at the post office is now guarded day and night by armed guards.
"If the Americans want to get rid of the weapons, they should follow Saddam's method," says Hussein. "They should pay for the weapons, and many people will come forward." The tribe chief recalls how Saddam gave out weapons before the first Gulf War in 1991, and then bought them back. "It was very successful, not only because he offered money, but also because he threatened he would find out if anyone had kept a weapon at home."
Although the residents of Najaf now enjoy more hours with electricity than before, a lot still needs to be done. Poverty is rampant and people have to get back to work and earn a living. Most are impatient with the occupation forces and want things to get better. "I think 80 per cent of the Iraqis want the Americans to leave. They want to take their chances fast. But I don't agree with this view. I think the Americans should stay until living conditions are better," says Hussein.
