Iraqi Voices
March 21, 2003
Victims
of tyranny back military action
By
Hamida Ghafour
When
Abtehale Al-Hussaini is accused of betraying Islam by
supporting war on Iraq, she recites a harrowing set of
statistics: 40 relatives executed, including four cousins,
three uncles, two aunts, and a grandparent.
She
holds one man responsible: Saddam Hussein.
"So
ask me again why do I want this war?" she said. "People
who say there is another way haven't a clue what is happening
in Iraq."
Miss
Al-Hussaini, 21, who lives in Southampton, is anxiously
awaiting news of relatives who remain in Baghdad under
threat of being gassed by their own leader.
Her
views represent those of the sliver of the British Muslim
population that supports military intervention. Most oppose
the use of force, as shown by a YouGov poll conducted
for The Telegraph last December.
But
Iraqis like Miss Al-Hussaini, whose family has first-hand
experience of Saddam's rule, believe Tony Blair's intentions
for a liberated Iraq may be honourable.
Yesterday,
other exiles delivered messages and letters of support
to Downing Street telling of the horror of life under
Saddam Hussein.
Miss
Al-Hussaini's parents, Amal and Hazem, live in exile in
north London. They fled from Baghdad after the 1980-1988
Iraq-Iran war but not before it took a heavy toll on her
family.
Many
of Miss Al-Hussaini's uncles and cousins were imprisoned.
Eight aunts were jailed at the notorious Abu Ghraib jail
outside Baghdad on charges of supporting opposition factions.
She
said: "Some rioters set the prison on fire. Six of
my aunts escaped and ran to the Iranian border but the
other two were raped and later executed."
Still,
she considers herself lucky. "I lived through that
war with Iran. Some of my parents' friends watched as
their babies were burned alive, or cooked over a stove
in front of them." ....
