| Page 3 of 3 < |
Caught Between Forces Vying for the Soul of a Country
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
They arrived at the camp with nothing more than a kerosene lamp, some food, clothes and two pots. Aid workers handed them a package of food, including beans, jam and cheese, as well as blankets, mattresses and cooking pots.
"We wish we could go back today to our house," Sabah said. "But the American soldiers are standing across the street from our house. Once you step out of the house, you will be shot by the snipers."
After fleeing Sadr City six days ago, Sadoon first took his family to an abandoned post office on nearby Palestine Street. But local residents turned up and demanded their identification cards.
Once the residents learned Sadoon and his family were from Sadr City, it was time to leave. "We were treated like the plague," Sadoon said, watching his 9-month-old twins roll on the tarpaulin. "We assured them we had nothing to do with either side, but they still kicked us out. So we came here."
He spoke in a low voice and kept watch for curious young men near his tent, men he thought might be Mahdi Army spies.
Like others in the camp, he has told his neighbors in Sadr City that he's staying with relatives, fearing repercussions. He knows one Badr Organization member who worked in a mosque near his house.
"He fled because he would have been killed," Sadoon said, adding that such targeting had increased in Sadr City. "All of this fighting is for political power," he said. "And the innocent people are stuck in the middle."
Special correspondent Saad al-Izzi contributed to this report.
