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Posted on 03/25/2003 12:11:41 PM PST by nwrep
Iraqis in Syria Speak Out Against Saddam
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
SAYDA ZEINAB, Syria - The small, bespectacled Iraqi housewife sat on the floor of a Shiite Muslim shrine just outside the Syrian capital Damascus, speaking in rushed, quiet tones of her hatred for her president, Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
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"All he (Saddam) did was take the country from one war to the other. First Iran, then Kuwait and now this," Raziqa al-Hadi said.
On hearing this, another Iraqi woman was emboldened to chime in: "I agree. I hope Saddam dies!"
Then the bickering began among the women wrapped in floor-length black cloaks. One incensed woman gripped the arm of the second speaker and silenced her, causing her to scurry off.
"Shut up! Don't say that. We would gladly give our blood for Saddam," shouted Fatmeh Shammas, waving her fist at a reporter as she repeated a slogan often heard in Baghdad.
It was hard to say whether Shammas was voicing her real feelings, or saying what she thought it was safe to say. Iraqis fear Iraq (news - web sites)'s ruling Baath party has many informants in Syria, and they know Saddam has a record of brutally repressing dissent.
Scores of Iraqi Shiite Muslims come to the Sayda Zeinab shrine every day to pay homage to the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter, Zeinab. There are more than half a million Iraqis currently in Syria. Most have arrived over the past month and are staying with friends or in rented homes until the war ends.
On Monday, a dark and rainy day in Damascus, the mood among worshippers was just as gloomy and subdued. Many sat on thin floor mats, leaning against the mosaic walls of the compound and reading from the Quran or chatting with family and friends.
The raging war in their homeland is the subject of much debate. There is general disappointment that what Iraqis here had hoped would be a quick and decisive military action seems to be turning into a drawn-out campaign.
Many blame Saddam for their sorry state while others — some recent arrivals fleeing the war — are less forthright.
Saddam "is our savior," said Abed Marzouk, a 45-year-old ambulance driver from Najaf.
U.S. tanks and infantry have reached Najaf, less than 100 miles from Baghdad.
Shiites have special reason to fear Saddam's regime. They constitute a majority in Iraq, but have long been repressed by Sunni Muslim leaders like Saddam. After Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites), Shiites in the south rebelled. They were quickly crushed by Saddam's Republican Guard in a campaign that is believed to have killed tens of thousands. Resentment lingers at the United States for failing to aid the rebellion.
Ali Mohsen, an Iraqi who left his home in Baghdad a month ago with his wife and five children, says he will return only when the Iraqi leadership is toppled.
"Hopefully things would change by then," said the 60-year-old Mohsen.
*sigh*
"Death to America?"
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