Seeking Refuge

My cousin in law, 'I', had her first baby on Friday, and as with all new mothers here, went home the same day (actually, two hours after delivery). Just as her new daughter was entering the world, her parents' neighbor was leaving it. He was killed on Saturday, as is happening to a good number of Shiites living in the Baghdad district of Amiriya.

After having a neighbor killed, an unknown man killed and disposed of in front of his house, and being himself kidnapped (last year) and released for a $50,000 ransom, I's father has finally left home. He has gone into 'hiding', leaving his house and family until they can find another house, in a safer neighborhood. I's father is a Shiite married to a Sunni woman (my husband's aunt). In the explosive atmosphere of today, sectarian violence has led to Sunni deaths by Shiite death squeads, and Shiite murders by Sunni gangs. I's family is directly affected by this, as her Shiite father has struggled to survive in mostly Sunni Amiriya for the past year or so. Let's hope things go well with them.