CPTnet
18 February 2005
IRAQ: Update 9 -- 12 February 2005
Wednesday 9 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
ten hours and thirty-five minutes of electricity from
the city grid. It was the most electricity in one day
that the neighborhood has had for several months.
CPT members Cliff Kindy and Peggy Gish talked to an
Iraqi friend who said he was at the Baghdad
International Airport at the end of the war in 2003.
He said that during the fighting between U.S. and
Iraqi forces there was an explosion, a cloud and
magnetism in the air that made his hair stand on end.
He said that in twenty minutes the bomb killed thirty
thousand Iraqis.
An Iraqi and his interpreter came to the CPT apartment
looking for help. The Iraqi told of his arrest along
with his three brothers last November. (See CPT Iraq
Release: Ahmed Abdullah Story by Cliff Kindy)
Thursday 10 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
seven hours and forty-five minutes of electricity from the city grid.
Friday 11 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
eight hours of electricity from the city grid.
CPT members Maxine Nash, Anne Montgomery and Alan
Slater visited the U.S. military base Camp Solidarity
in the Adhamiya neighborhood in the north part of
Baghdad. They talked to a Captain named Stubbs
regarding U.S. raids on the Abu Hanifa shrine in
Adhamiya on 19 November and the shrine's school on 9
December. The sheikh of the shrine had asked CPT to
talk with Captain Stubbs and ask for future dialogue
between the shrine and the U.S. Army. The sheikh said
he had been impressed with Captain Stubbs who
apologized for the raids.
Talking with the CPT members, Captain Stubbs recalled
meeting with the sheikh on 9 December only to learn
the next morning that U.S. Special Forces had raided
the shrine's school in the evening. Captain Stubbs
said he was leaving Iraq in the next month but would
set up a meeting with his replacement and the sheikh
of the shrine.
Knowing of CPT members' interest in learning how to
dismantle guns and other tools of violence, an Iraqi
friend of the CPT team showed Greg Rollins how to
dismantle a Glock handgun.
Saturday 12 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
six hours and thirty-seven minutes of electricity from the city grid.
Sunday 13 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
six hours and thirty-five minutes of electricity from the city grid.
Borders into Iraq were closed or restricted in
preparation for the Shi'a festival Ashura during which
Shi'a Muslims commemorate the death of the Husain, a leader in Shi'a Islam.
Monday 14 February
The neighborhood where CPT members live had a total of
nine hours and thirty minutes of electricity from the city grid.
An Iraqi friend, who was an election observer/manager
shared his results and impressions about the election
with CPT members. He felt the observers did well and
that the training they received was adequate. It was
the first time any of them had worked on an election.
There were some problems. For example, in Najaf one
election center opened half an hour late and another
two hours late. At some centers employees came late
because they were afraid militants would bomb the
centers. Some centers did not have electricity while
others did not have sufficient supplies.
Kindy, Slater and Rollins went to visit an Iraqi human
rights group. On the walk there, the CPT members
passed through the heavily guarded Palestine/Sheraton
hotel complex. Twice, Iraqi guards stopped the CPT
members and told them it was forbidden for them to
enter. The guards said it was dangerous in the complex
and that U.S. snipers who watch over the area might
shoot the CPT members. The CPT members informed the guards that they passed
through the area on a regular basis and never had trouble. The second time
guards stopped the CPT members a U.S. contractor allowed them to pass with
an Iraqi escort.
At the Iraqi human rights office, the director
welcomed CPT members. The group is squatting in a
building that belongs to the Iraqi government. The
group was given until the end of the month to leave
but the director told CPT members that they do not plan to leave.
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