Ex-Baathists in Iraq Pay Ultimate Price

Reuters ^ | Dec 22, 2003

[Leroy S. Mort]

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf are wreaking deadly revenge on those who served Saddam Hussein.

Hit-men on motorcycles have been assassinating ex-members of the ousted dictator's Baath Party in Mafia-style killings.

In the latest attack to rattle anyone who ever worked for the Baath, a teacher walking to school with her two young sons was sprayed with AK-47 rifle fire.

"I am the victim of the new Iraq. My son was chanting verses from the Koran on the way to school. Suddenly they shot at us," said Dhamya Abbas from her hospital bed.

"I left the Baath Party five years ago. But they have been threatening me and following me. I was wearing a full veil when they shot me. I want to take my sons and leave Iraq."

She has yet to learn that her nine-year-old son took two bullets to the forehead and died hugging her in the attack.

Score settling has been on the rise in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam in April.

His capture has not eased the desire for revenge, especially in Shi'ite cities, thousands were arrested, tortured and killed.

In Najaf alone, officials in the U.S.-backed police say about 40 ex-Baath members have been gunned down since June in well organized and perfectly timed attacks by two men on motorcycles or in taxis.

Police suspect the feared Badr Brigade, a militia tied to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). SCIRI leaders sit on Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council.

"The Badr organization have repeatedly said they had nothing to do with these assassinations. This is not our policy," Adel Abdel Mahdi, head of SCIRI's political wing, told Reuters.

POLICE KEEP A DISTANCE

Police investigations have made little progress.

"We have not caught one person," a senior police official who asked not to be named told Reuters.

As he read over a list of victims, another officer leaned over and said: "Any policeman who takes on a case will become a target. We are too frightened."

Relatives of the victims play down any connection to the Baath. Residents say many worked for Saddam's security services.

Some get death threats. Others are shot without warning. Mercenaries are sometimes hired for $250 to kill Baathists, police said.

Takleef Mussawi didn't see who killed him. He was shot in the back of the head in a vegetable market.

"The Baath party was imposed on the people. Even children would not pass exams unless they joined. My father was a simple, poor man. He was a security guard for the Baath at a mosque," said Takleef's son Haider.

A neighbor disagrees. "A lot of people say he was a member of a committee that helped carry out executions," he said.

Even those expelled from the Baath years ago are not safe.

"My father was threatened with execution when he was expelled from the Baath in 1985. In 1991, he was imprisoned and tortured for a week for joining a protest," said Haidar Abdel Hussein of his father Fadil.

Gunmen did not take that into account when they pumped four bullets into the former bodyguard for Najaf's Baathist governor.

"The one that hit his face finished him off. I don't want anything from the police. I just want names so we can get revenge," Haidar said.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Nice try , Reuters, but its hard for me to work up any sympathy for the Baathists.

[Lurking in Kansas]

His capture has not eased the desire for revenge, especially in Shi'ite cities, thousands were arrested, tortured and killed.

Payback is a b*tch

[the_Watchman]

Score settling has been on the rise in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam in April.

This is a real inane thing to say. Prior to April, the other side was keeping score!

[Savage Beast]

It is a tragedy, but how could anyone expect Islam--of all things--to provide protection from violence?

[tbpiper]

His capture has not eased the desire for revenge, especially in Shi'ite cities, thousands were arrested, tortured and killed.

Really makes you realize what a miricle it was that the Kurds didn't draw & quarter Saddam when they captured him. Instead, they were nice enough to drug him, arm him, give him $750 Grand, and stuff him in a hole so we could 'find' him. </s

[baltodog]

My sentiments exactly.
BTW -- I'm in Wichita.

[observer5]

"Gunmen in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf"

When are these Reuter idiots are going to stop calling these dirt piles "holy city". Why are thye not calling Rome a holy city, or Jerusalem any of the other religion's holy places "holy". PC crap morons.

Resist the propaganda!

[TexKat]

Iraqi students visit their wounded teacher Dhamya Abbas, who was shot while walking to work in the city of Najaf December 21, 2003. Gunmen on motorcycles in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf have been assassinating ex-members of the ousted dictator's Baath Party in mafia-style killings. Abbas, who said she left the Baath party five years ago, has yet to learn that her nine-year-old son also died in the attack. REUTERS/Ali Jasim

A U.S. soldier stands next to a civilian car hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Mosul, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday Dec. 21, 2003. The grenade fired by guerillas missed a three-truck military convoy and hit the vehicle, seriously wounding the Iraqi driver. (AP Photo/Karam Hussein)

[TexKat]

The shooters sound more like they have been Al Queda trained.