CPTnet
20 May 2005
IRAQ UPDATE: 6-10 May 2005
Friday, 6 May 2005
Matt Chandler stayed in Baghdad as backup person while Pritchard,
Provencher, and Fox traveled to Fallujah with members of the Muslim
Peacemaker Teams (MPT.)
CPTers and the Shiite MPTers worked together with Sunni Muslims from
Fallujah to clean up some of the destruction from recent US attacks. (See 9
May 2005 CPTnet release, "IRAQ: CPTers and MPTers help Sunnis clean up
Fallujah.")
Saturday 7 May 2005
An Iraqi friend called with the welcomed news that his brother-in-law had
already been released.
Joe Carr arrived safely. He commented that his image of the situation in
Baghdad was less like being in an active war zone than he had expected.
Having spent considerable time in Palestine, he note that the military
presence he saw in Baghdad was less that he was accustomed to seeing in the
West Bank.
Sunday 8 May 2005
The team entertained multiple visitors and attended the evening mass at
Saint Rafael's Cathedral in the neighborhood of the CPT flat. Carr was
surprised to see that the church had barricades and armed
guards, added because of the August 2004 attacks on Iraqi Christians.
Monday 9 May 2005
Carr and Provencher went to visit media outlets in the neighborhood. One
street is completely blocked off, with a checkpoint staffed by armed
security guards. The BBC, Reuters, and New York Times are all in the
neighborhood. The two passed a parked SUV riddled with bullet holes and
shrapnel gashes. Both the BBC and Reuters were happy to know of CPT's work
and potential for alerting the media to stories.
Carr took several pictures of the Palestine-Sheraton compound. As they left
the complex, a soldier approached and asked them to delete the photos. "We
have snipers on the roof and they saw you," he said. He went on to wish the
CPTers well and allowed Carr to keep most of the photos he took.
Provencher spent the night with Iraqi friends. An Iraqi Police car
patrolled the neighborhood where she was staying. Gunfire broke out at
10:30 p.m., while she and the entire family were sleeping out on the
roof. The four children pulled the covers over their head and giggled
nervously
Tuesday 10 May 2005
The team heard the blast of a suicide car bomber who had attempted to attack
a military convey on Sadoon Street. The blast killed at least six civilians.
Fox, Pritchard and Carr had an appointment with a UN human rights official
in the Green Zone. Their driver had to use a number of back routes in order
to reach the area of the Green Zone as a result of the car bomb incident.
The bridge across the Tigris was closed to civilian vehicular traffic so the
team walked across. Many of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi pedestrians
seemed quite to see unarmed Westerners walking about. They reached the UN
checkpoint and waited for their escort. They went through six checkpoints,
staffed by five different security forces, including troops from the
Republic of Georgia and from the Fiji Islands.
The UN official apologized for the extremely complex procedures and noted
that he is currently not allowed to leave the Green Zone. When he flies out
of the country he is taken by helicopter to the Baghdad airport one day
ahead and spends the night in a tent compound that mainly houses contracted
private security personnel. He thanked the team for all their help over the
last year in making connections for him with Iraqi human rights
organizations and individuals. He said the UN is looking to increase its
presence in Iraq but security concerns are so high that any new offices will
probably hire Iraqi staff, not internationals.
When they were ready to leave Fox, Pritchard and Carr decided to try to walk
from the Green Zone back to the CPT flat (about one mile). They pushed
aside some concertina wire that blocked the steps from the bridge to their
street and got as far as the outer perimeter of the Sheraton/Palestine
complex. Private security guards stopped them and while team members were
waiting for an official from the security company to clear them for entry
they passed out the "magic sheets" that the team gives to Iraqis explaining
CPT's presence and work. One guard seemed fairly positive but another kept
saying, "Were is your security? Where are your guns?"
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