Monday, October 02, 2006

Kidnapped

The Washington Post reported today, "Parliament extended Iraq's state of emergency Monday as gunmen snatched 14 employees from computer stores in downtown Baghdad in the second mass kidnapping in as many days.

Seven cars pulled up to the shops in front of Baghdad's Technical University, and gunmen wearing military-style uniforms fanned out to surround the buildings, police Lt. Thair Mahmoud said. The attackers then forced the employees outside and into sport utility vehicles at gunpoint, he said."

When my husband heard this news, he called his cousin and neighbor to make sure that our neighbors in Baghdad were okay. His worst fears were confirmed. Two brothers who live right across from us in Baghdad, and who work in a computer store in front of Baghdad's Technical University (an area called Sina'a), were kidnapped today from their store. News sources confirm that all of the 14 kidnapped were Sunnis. Ironically, 'A' and 'A' are the sons of a Sunni Arab father and a Shiite Turkomen mother. They are the latest victims in this sectarian war engulfing Baghdad.
A2, the younger brother was married a year and a half ago in April 2005. After a year of marriage, he and his wife were finally expecting their first child. Today, his seven month pregnant wife, Bushra, herself a Shiite, anxiously awaits news of her husband's fate.
A1, the older brother (around 26 years old) is a sweet, slight man, with a shy demeanor and a smiling face. He married his young 18 year old wife a few months ago, a short while before I left Baghdad. I remember watching the simple celebration his family held for him (and his brother a year before him) in front of their house, from the window of my bedroom. A simple wedding celebration with a few firecrackers to announce their happiness to the neighbors. Now, his also pregnant wife awaits news of her husband's safety, or her widowhood.
My heart goes out to the young men's kind father and their good mother, to their young wives and sister, to their extended families, and to the Iraqi people for what their country has descended into.

12 comments:

Halla said...

O my God, that is so awful!! I will be praying for them as well! Fatima, I hope and pray that you and your family stays safe!!

neurotic_wife said...

Kidnapped...Kidnapped...Kidnapped...When will this stop??? And why is all this happening? for what? Really, for what? The Chair? God help their wives and the families.

Anonymous said...

I don't think posting the names was a good idea..

Anonymous said...

I know a couple of the guys who work at the same office there. Their professional reputation is beyond everything. Educated and Great people and now we just lost them!!! For what!!
Ok fine they want the whole country to be primitive with no education? That's fine with me. Let them turn Iraq into a hole of shit filled with primitive people with no desire to improve at all.
And then some ignorant comes to me and say ohhhhhh YAYYYY Iraqis are killing each other! Yeear rightttt!! And when you talk they don't find anything to say but Yep you are Pro Saddam! How smart! Idiots.

A well studied plan to destroy a civilization

Guess what! You Will NOT!!!

Anonymous said...

How can you and your husband conceivably decide to return to Iraq with your infant daughter. It is almost suicide. Don't do it.

Anonymous said...

fatima, i think you have real journalistic talent. I also think that your attempt at being so unbiased and optimistic about everything, and not simply making this blog a way to vent to the world is really remarkable.

Anonymous said...

be safe, inshaa Allah...

Anonymous said...

Alhamdulillah ala salaamatkum.. next time when I call, make sure the baby doesn't hang up the phone on me, please. :o)

Anonymous said...

IstaghfurAllah.. did you hear about what happened to Tariq Al-Hashimi's brother and his family? The country.. my God.. I have no more hope for it.. & its all thanks to Bush and his "democracy"...

Anonymous said...

its all thanks to Bush and his "democracy"

Er, actually it's all thanks to people who value violence and destruction over doing something productive. It's kind of hard to blame anyone but the Iraqis here.

Anonymous said...

no.. it is all thanks to bush.. iraq was once a great country, in case you didn't know.. many people don't know, which is quite sad.. but its true..bush made the country weak and now all these weirdos are roaming around the country killing random, innocent people..

Anonymous said...

Any updates since then? Any ransom requests?