Family fears for Iraqi who sought help from UN

Times Online ^ | February 7, 2002 | James Bone

[Gorilla44]

THE family of an Iraqi man hauled from the vehicle of a UN inspector in Baghdad have appealed to Amnesty International to help to save him.

Like television viewers around the world, Adnan Abdul Karim Enad’s relatives were shocked to see him clambering into a UN inspector’s jeep on January 25 clutching a notebook and screaming “Save me! Save me!” in Arabic. A UN inspector sat motionless in the front seat as Iraqi guards pulled the 29-year-old man out of the car and carried him away by his arms and legs.

Abidalrahim Al-Nuimi, a relative living in America, said the family was involved with the Iraqi opposition abroad and Adnan may have feared retaliation by Iraqi authorities.

“I believe he did that to get refugee (status) because he cannot wait too long. I know this guy very well. He is aggressive. He ran away from the Iraqi army because he did not think he could serve Saddam. They put him in jail for two years.

“We just want to make sure he is alive. We tried to call. Our relatives in Baghdad cannot say anything.” Mr AlNuimi, who asked that his precise relationship with Adnan not be disclosed, said the family feared not just for his well- being but also for the fate of other family members in Iraq. They have written to President Bush and Amnesty International seeking their help.

Hans Blix, the chief UN inspector, appeared flummoxed when questioned about the case this week but said that he would consider raising it in his talks tomorrow in Baghdad.

He said the inspectors did not know the identity of the man pulled from the vehicle and were awaiting a report on the incident from the Iraqi authorities. The UN had not taken any other steps to ascertain whether the man might have been an Iraqi scientist or otherwise in possession of information he wanted to share with inspectors about Iraq’s secret weapons programmes.

“I’ve just talked to our security chief in Baghdad . . . and he said there was nothing in the booklet he seemed to be carrying,” Dr Blix said. He added that Iraqi scientists could find “more elegant ways” of approaching UN inspectors.

Mr Al-Nuimi said that he had no idea whether Adnan, who works in a market, might have had information about Iraq’s weapons. “I cannot say he had some information about weapons, but what was going on with the file?”

Aziz Al-Taee, chairman of the Iraqi-American Council, said that the incident would discourage other dissidents from trying to seek sanctuary with UN inspectors. “They did not even listen to him. They just pushed him to the security forces. The security forces took him away and he has disappeared,” he said. “They should have taken him into the UN barracks and interviewed him to see if he has a case.”

[Gorilla44]

Sorry buddy! Your approach was not "elegant" enough.

[joesnuffy]

Oil for food....with the UN brokering the deal....
Hmmm whose he (Mr UN ) really want to save anyway....

[anniegetyourgun]

I doubt that his execution was very elegant. More blood on the hands of the U.N., IMHO.

[Happy2BMe]

Saving this man's life on the spot was not as simple as if may have appeared.

In fairness to the inspector's, how do you know they didn't want to keep him in the jeep?

They couldn't because their lives could have been imperilled then.

They tortured this poor soul to an inch of his life - and then only God knows what they did to him.

[Diogenesis]

KOFI's KLOWNS play "Let's exterminate all witnesses"

In Baghdad, Iraq, Iraqi TV is featuring what happens to those who defy Saddam.
A man took material to the UN "inspectors" and begged for help. He was ignored,
and then pulled from a car, wrestled to the ground by UN guards, and
then dutifully returned to Iraq with his data for torture.

---

In Baghdad, Iraq, at the al-Canal hotel, after the man with information for the US
pleading "Save me!'' was sent back to Iraq by Kofi's Klowns who gave him
to the the Iraqi military. Let the world know what happens to anyone who
defies Saddam or relies on the UN.

[Savage Beast]

What would have happened if the inspectors had refused to release Enad to the Iraqis? If they had wrapped their arms and legs around him and pulled him into the back of the car?

[Happy2BMe]

Good post - tnx!

As I said, the people in the jeep had no way of protecting him.

What did you expect, a firefight to break out betweeen the U.N. guy in the seat and the Iraqi guards?

I'm not by any stretch defending the U.N. as an entity, what I'm saying is even if the people this poor soul tried to get help from had wanted to save him - there was no way they could have.

This man will die a slow, terrible death.

God help him.

[lsee]

The inspectors are not in that country utterly without protection. They could have reacted differently, raising a big stink to PREVENT the man from being turned over immediately, once he was shown to be unarmed. Wasn't that one of the purposes for their visit? To interview people? By failing to do more to attempt to protect this brave (and likely dead) man, they discouraged many others who WANT to tell the truth, but out of fear, keep silent. Even now, they could still formally request an interview with that same man, demanding answers as to his whereabouts. Heartbreaking.

[Happy2BMe]

"What would have happened if the inspectors had refused to release Enad to the Iraqis? If they had wrapped their arms and legs around him and pulled him into the back of the car?"

That is a good question.

The whole premise here is that the U.N. inpsectors are sympathetic (as a body of people) to Saddam and are apathetic to the man begging for his life.

Had the inspectors wrapped themselves around them, the entire inspection process would have been jeapordized and possibly come to a halt.

Perhaps that would have been the best possible act they could have done.

But if they had done this, Saddamn knows if he expelled the entire team his goose would be cooked.

Lots of speculation.

What is that the man who attempted to defect was so desparate he counted on the inspectors coming to his aid - which they didn't.

Wonder how they sleep at night?

[Happy2BMe]

"Even now, they could still formally request an interview with that same man, demanding answers as to his whereabouts. Heartbreaking."

Heartbreaking indeed to witness anyone going to their death at the hands of butchers.

Picture that scene in Berlin in 1939.

The Desperate: Jews going to the gas chambers.

The Butchers: Gestapo SS

The Inspectors: The entire world turning their heads, knowing the fate that awaits them in the gas chambers.

[Happy2BMe]

"The inspectors are not in that country utterly without protection."

Not sure if you had known it or not, but Saddamn has given orders to round up all the inspectors and use them as human shields in the even Bush signals a definite attack on Iraq.

[Happy2BMe]

I got to thinking about the significance of this event.

Why aren't these people coming to this man's aid:

1. The anti-war protestors in the U.S., Germany, France, Britian, all of Europe, all if Islam.

2. Patty Murray.

3. Jessie Jackson.

4. Louis Farrakhan.

5. CAIR - USA

6. Ted Kennedy

7. Hillary Clinton

8. Susan Serrandon

9. CNN

10. MSNBC

11. Hollywood - Martin Sheen and similar instigators claiming to be for human rights.

WHERE ARE THEY!!??

[Savage Beast]

"Wonder how they sleep at night?"

I wonder too.

This is the quote of the day, as far as I'm concerned:

"Let the world know what happens to anyone who defies Saddam or relies on the UN."

--Diogenesis

[Savage Beast]

"Even now, they could still formally request an interview with that same man, demanding answers as to his whereabouts."

Yes.

"Wonder how they sleep at night?"

Yes.

It's possible that they couldn't do anything. Maybe they weren't sure whether he was a suicide/murderer or something. Maybe they didn't have time to think what to do.

But I can't help wondering if they could have held onto his clothes, his hair, shouted, screamed, fought, kicked, punched, started the car, drove away, made a scene loud enough and disruptive enough to save him. What are the Iraqis going to do--shoot the inspectors? I don't think so.

[Happy2BMe]

" What are the Iraqis going to do--shoot the inspectors? I don't think so."

See my post #11.

[HAL9000]

Thanks for the post. I've been searching for information on the fate of this guy.

The final paragraph quoting Aziz Al-Taee was exactly right.