- NEW DELHI (ANI) -- Dr. Waiel
S.H. Awwad, a Syrian war correspondent who went missing in Iraq, said on
Friday the most difficult job for the coalition troops will be to win the
trust of Iraqi people once Baghdad falls.
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- New Delhi-based Awwad, reporting for Al Arabiya television,
a part of Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, went missing along with
two crew members in Iraq on March 22 until he contacted home last Sunday.
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- Awwad and his crew were ambushed on the third day of
coalition attacks as they were proceeding to Zuber, 20 kms north of Basra,
to talk to Iraqis in the town, which the British claimed had been "liberated".
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- Recounting his nine-day ordeal, Awwad, who was embedded
with a US maintenance division, said it was the mere "presence of
mind" which saved him from the jaws of death.
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- "You know, it became a capture, a big capture like
they thought we are really Americans. And they started shouting slogans,
firing in the air, "Saddam Zindabad, Saddam, Saddam". I said
fine, we took the (video) shots, we took everything. Then they said no,
you have to come with us to the Ba'ath headquarters in Zuber and there
in the Ba'ath headquarters, we were interrogated, we were asked why we
came with the Americans? You are not supposed to be a part of the Americans,
these are the invaders and all sort of things," Awwad said.
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- Awwad said coalition troops made long claims in the initial
days of war and the unexpected resistance by the Iraqis was often misreported
in the western media.
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- The Arabic-speaking journalist said they could have been
branded "traitors" and killed for being embedded with the "enemy"
but he was smuggled out by a compassionate tribal leader, who was also
a member of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath party. "There
are bad people in Iraq and there are good people in Iraq. That is the story
which nobody believes. And while we were there more than 20 British soldiers
were killed in Zuber when the British were only admitting two soldiers
were killed. When I saw it with my own eyes, three tanks were blown (up),
three vehicles were blown (up) and six Prisoners of War were caught. Now
who could give such facts from the ground if we were not there," he
said.
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- Awwad said he witnessed a zealous fighting spirit among
Iraqis during his accidental reporting from both sides of the war. He said
the Iraqi people did not approve of Saddam's regime but for most of those
fighting coalition forces, it was a choice between "the lesser of
the two evils".
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- "The Iraqi people have suffered at the hands of
Saddam Hussein, I tell you (there is) no doubt about it and I am sure there
will be lots of stories coming after the war (is) over because people will
come forward and tell you, Yes, we did this and that but Iraqi people also
learnt from the Britishers, the Britishers were not a good colonial power
in Iraq and they have suffered enough on their hands. So they have to choose
between the two devils and they prefer Saddam Hussein. They said, Saddam
Hussain, we know him for 30 years, we suffered at his hands but these are
colonial powers, they have some reasons to come and take oil. So the genuine
fighting among the people comprised more than a regular army," Awwad
said.
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- He said even the common Iraqis fought coalition troops,
some out of fear of Ba'ath party's informers which happened to be even
in their families, and others for gaining "rewards" proportionate
to enemy's losses.
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- Awwad, who also reported from Afghanistan during the
war on Taliban and al Qaeda, said unceasing bombardment of Baghdad and
other pockets of resistance could lead to dislocation of civilian population
and also harm the goodwill the coalition troops hope to win over.
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- "I believe the human catastrophe has now been set
up in this area, Why? While we were in jail, we were detained in a house,
the way the bombardment was taking place, so much devastating that even
(at) the place we were sitting, we were so scared that we might die because
of the shaking of the place. I know it from Afghanistan when the B-52s
used to come and bomb, the whole ground shook under our feet. So the psycho
war on the Iraqi people was so much and there is influx of refugees going
out of Iraq now, out of Basra, out of Zuber. People saying, OK fine you
took our president, we don't want him but why you make us look so demoralised,
so much we are sitting here, why? Now I believe if the Britishers are not
in a position to regain the confidence of the Iraqis, there will be more
casualties to come," he said. wwad hoped the reconstruction and rehabilitation
of Iraq would set in motion a new era of development for the Iraqi people,
among the most educated and innovative in the Arab world.
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- Copyright © 2003 ANI-Asian News International. All
rights reserved.
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