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</div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13625"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/#comments" title="Comment on International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on July 5th, 2011 by Burhan Aydin</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update">International Committee Of The Red Cross: Iraq Activities Update</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/1990-1991-gulf-war/" rel="tag">1990-1991 Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-rashad/" rel="tag">al Rashad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-khadra/" rel="tag">al-Khadra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qosh/" rel="tag">al-Qosh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar/" rel="tag">Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/babil/" rel="tag">babil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/balad/" rel="tag">Balad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/civilians/" rel="tag">Civilians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detainees/" rel="tag">detainees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detention-facilities/" rel="tag">detention facilities</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khanaqin/" rel="tag">Khanaqin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kufa/" rel="tag">Kufa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kufa-university/" rel="tag">Kufa University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdish regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/livin/" rel="tag">Livin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mine-clearance/" rel="tag">Mine Clearance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/missing-persons/" rel="tag">missing persons</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nahrawan/" rel="tag">Nahrawan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/najaf/" rel="tag">Najaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prisoners/" rel="tag">prisoners</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/red-cross-messages/" rel="tag">Red Cross messages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rehabilitation/" rel="tag">rehabilitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-al-din/" rel="tag">Salah al-Din</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shirqat/" rel="tag">Shirqat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wasit/" rel="tag">Wasit</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-purification/" rel="tag">water purification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treatment/" rel="tag">water treatment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zaidan/" rel="tag">Zaidan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zubair/" rel="tag">Zubair</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Three decades of conflict have left hundreds of thousands of families struggling to find out what happened to their missing loved ones. Abandoning the search is not an option. Since 1980, the ICRC has spared no effort to put an end to their anguish. Operational update, March-May 2011. </p> <p>"Iraq is currently one of the countries with the highest number of missing persons and, as a result, with the highest number of families seeking information on their missing relatives," said ‘Dika Dulic’, the ICRC delegate in charge of issues relating to missing persons in Iraq. A lack of clear statistics, however, makes it difficult to accurately establish the true size of the problem.</p> <div style="border-bottom: black 1px solid; border-left: black 1px solid; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; padding-left: 5px; width: 48%; padding-right: 5px; float: right; border-top: black 1px solid; border-right: black 1px solid; padding-top: 5px"> <h3>How do I report my relative as a missing person?</h3> <p>The Ministry of Human Rights is responsible for collecting information about any person reported missing in connection with armed conflict or internal violence. The ministry has offices in each Iraqi governorate. In northern Iraq, the Ministry of Anfal is in charge of this issue.</p> <p>The Department for missing persons, prisoners of war and human remains has two hotline numbers: <br/>+964 781 375 7020 <br/>+964 781 375 7021 <br/>and can also be contacted by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/mailto:d.mom-mhr@humanrights.gov.iq">e-mail</a></p> <p>Information provided by Basra’s Al-Zubair Centre on soldiers exhumed or otherwise known to be dead can be found on the Ministry of Human Rights website: <br/><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.humanrights.gov.iq /">www.humanrights.gov.iq</a>  You can also contact Al Zubair Centre directly.</p> <p>If you believe that one of your relatives has been killed, you can contact Baghdad’s Medico-Legal Institute by telephone: <br/>+964 78 137 57 655 or by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/mailto:mli_bag41@yahoo.com">e-mail</a></p> <p>In an effort to alleviate the agony of those still waiting for news, the ICRC, in its role as a neutral intermediary, facilitates dialogue between the parties involved in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War and in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, who have an obligation under international humanitarian law to account for those who went missing.Baghdad resident Hayat has led a sad life since her husband disappeared on 8 April 2003. "I lost hope," she said. "In the past nine years I have searched every prison. I ended up convincing myself that my husband Abdallah must have died."</p> <p>In an effort to alleviate the agony of those still waiting for news, the ICRC, in its role as a neutral intermediary, facilitates dialogue between the parties involved in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War and in the 1990-1991 Gulf War, who have an obligation under international humanitarian law to account for those who went missing.</p> </p></div> <p>Baghdad resident Hayat has led a sad life since her husband disappeared on 8 April 2003. "I lost hope," she said. "In the past nine years I have searched every prison. I ended up convincing myself that my husband Abdallah must have died."</p> <p>In April, the remains of 17 Iranian soldiers killed in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War were handed over from the Iraqi to the Iranian authorities under ICRC auspices at the Shalamja border crossing, near Basra.</p> <p>As a neutral intermediary, the ICRC facilitates the dialogue between the parties who were involved in the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf war and who carry the responsibility to clarify the fate of persons still unaccounted for. This includes: <br/>supporting authorities in the collection of information <br/>facilitating transmission of information between the parties chairing meetings <br/>facilitating joint missions in the field and the handover of human remains</p> <p>The ICRC continues to provide training and other support for the Ministry of Human Rights, Basra’s Al-Zubair Centre of Iraq and Baghdad’s Medical-Legal Institute.</p> <h4>Bringing aid to people facing hardship</h4> <p>Many people in Iraq are still struggling to earn a living and support their families. Between March and May, the ICRC:</p> <p>Distributed over 8 million Iraqi Dinars through cash-for-work scheme, to 450 vulnerable displaced people and residents of Deralok in Dohuk governorate; <br/>Awarded 108 grants to disabled people and women-headed households in Ninawa, Kirkuk, Basra, Missan, Erbil, Baghdad and Sulaimaniya, enabling them to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. <br/>Distributed individual food and hygiene parcels, including essential household items, to 2475 internally displaced households, benefiting some 14850 people, in the group settlements of Ninawa, Kirkuk and Wasit;</p> <p>Following heavy rainfalls and consequential flooding in Ninawa, Erbil and Salah Al-Din governorates in April, the ICRC assisted affected/displaced households, distributing: 4984 blankets, 634 towels, 1340 hygiene parcels, 1315 tarpaulins, 317 kitchen sets, <br/>763 food parcels, and 11.1 metric tons of rice. The ICRC assistance also reached families affected by the floods in Rabea and Baaj districts.</p> <h4>Assisting health-care facilities</h4> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/07/05/international-committee-of-the-red-cross-iraq-activities-update/#more-13625" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13087"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/04/22/iraq-widening-crackdown-on-protests-human-rights-watch/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: Widening Crackdown on Protests | Human Rights Watch">No Comments</a></span> Posted on April 22nd, 2011 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/04/22/iraq-widening-crackdown-on-protests-human-rights-watch/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq: Widening Crackdown on Protests | Human Rights Watch">Iraq: Widening Crackdown on Protests | Human Rights Watch</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arbil/" rel="tag">Arbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arrests/" rel="tag">Arrests</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asayish/" rel="tag">Asayish</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/constitution/" rel="tag">Constitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-threats/" rel="tag">Death Threats</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/demonstrations/" rel="tag">Demonstrations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dukan/" rel="tag">Dukan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/freedom-of-expression/" rel="tag">freedom of expression</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/peaceful-demonstration/" rel="tag">peaceful demonstration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/protest-campaigns-responses-to/" rel="tag">protest campaigns - responses to</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/protests-against-gzg/" rel="tag">protests against GZG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/protests-against-gzg-violence/" rel="tag">protests against GZG violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/protests-against-krg/" rel="tag">protests against KRG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/puk/" rel="tag">PUK</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reporters-without-borders/" rel="tag">Reporters Without Borders</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/right-to-protest/" rel="tag">right to protest</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sara-square/" rel="tag">Sara Square</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/street-protests/" rel="tag">street protests</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya-province/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya Province</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaymaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaymaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tahrir-square-protestor-arrests/" rel="tag">Tahrir Square protestor arrests</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tahrir-square-protests/" rel="tag">Tahrir Square Protests</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">ميدان التحرير‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a3%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%b4/" rel="tag">أسايش</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Kurdistan authorities should end their widening crackdown on peaceful protests in northern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should hold accountable those responsible for attacking protesters and journalists in Arbil and Sulaimaniya since April 17, 2011, including opening fire on demonstrators and beating them severely, Human Rights Watch said.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch also called on Iraqi authorities in Baghdad to investigate the detention and torture of a protester, Alaa Nabil, and to charge or release more than two dozen activists held in a prison in Baghdad’s Old Muthanna Airport. Central government and Kurdistan Regional Government authorities should revoke their recent bans on unlicensed demonstrations in Sulaimaniya province and on street protests in Baghdad, Human Rights Watch said.</p> <p>"Iraqi authorities in Kurdistan and Baghdad need to rein in their security forces and protect the right to protest peacefully," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Iraqi political authorities need to end their knee-jerk responses and stop banning protests, detaining demonstrators, and beating journalists."</p> <h3>Repression in Kurdistan</h3> <p>In the afternoon of April 18 in Arbil, the Kurdistan capital, dozens of armed men in civilian clothes attacked students from the Kurdistan region’s largest university, Salahadin, as they tried to hold a demonstration. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the assailants also attacked journalists and at least one member of parliament.</p> <p>A third-year Salahadin student told Human Rights Watch that a large group of organized assailants wearing civilian clothes attacked the protesters with brute force.</p> <p>"We chanted ‘freedom, freedom,’ and then security forces came and abolished the demonstration," the student said. "They were hitting people by knives and sticks … and arrested 23 protesters."</p> <p>The assailants beat Muhamad Kyani, a member of the Iraqi national parliament for the opposition party Goran (Change) List, and his bodyguard while they were walking away from the demonstration. "There was no violence from us, nothing happened from our side to incite them," Kyani told Human Rights Watch. "I was on my way to the car when the Asayish [the official security agency for the Kurdistan region] threw me to the ground and started to kick and beat me." Kyani had two black eyes and other minor injuries from the beating. "They just wanted to intimidate and insult me and those with me," he said. "During the beating they swore at us and called me a traitor."</p> <p>Reporters without Borders documented attacks on at least 10 journalists covering the April 18 protest. The group said assailants also detained numerous journalists, including Awara Hamid of the newspaper <em>Rozhnam, </em>Bahman Omer of <em>Civil Magazine</em>, Hajar Anwar, bureau chief of the Kurdistan News Network, and Mariwan Mala Hassan, a KNN reporter, as well as two of the station’s cameramen.</p> <p>Shwan Sidiq of <em>Civil Magazine</em> was hospitalized after the assailants broke his hand. "My hand is broken, my head still hurts," he told Human Rights Watch. "What I saw was what in 1988 Saddam Hussein did against me and my family."<strong></strong></p> <p>Security forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the two ruling parties there, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, have used repressive measures against journalists since the start of the protests in Iraq on February 17. The local press freedom group Metro Center has documented more than 150 cases of attacks and harassment of Kurdish journalists since February 17. In March, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 20 journalists covering the protests in Kurdistan.</p> <p>"Time and again we found that security forces and their proxies violate journalists’ freedom of expression through death threats, arbitrary arrests, beatings, harassment, and by confiscating and vandalizing their equipment," Stork said.</p> <p>In Sulaimaniya, daily clashes since April 17 have injured more than 100 protesters, journalists, and security forces. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on April 17 security forces fired live ammunition into the air to clear protesters blocking a road, while others shot into the crowd indiscriminately, wounding at least seven demonstrators.</p> <p>"Police and security forces used everything to attack us," one protester told Human Rights Watch. "They opened fire, threw stones, used sticks and their Kalashnikovs to keep us from demonstrating."</p> <p>Protest organizers told Human Rights Watch that on April 18, security forces violently seized control of Sara Square, the center of daily protests in Sulaimaniya since February 17, and demolished the protesters’ podium. Security forces have fanned out across the city and have refused to allow protesters back to the site – renamed Azadi (Freedom) Square by demonstrators – resulting in clashes on April 18 and 19.</p> <p>On March 6, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/07/iraqi-kurdistan-prevent-attacks-protesters" class="external" target="_blank">masked assailants attacked demonstrators</a> and set their tents on fire but failed to evict protesters from the site.</p> <p>On April 19, protest organizers said, security forces detained dozens of students and others in and around Sulaimaniya, releasing most later in the day. One law undergraduate told Human Rights Watch that security forces attacked her and other protesters at the Dukan checkpoint on their way to Sulaimaniya.</p> <p>"We were forced to get off the buses," she said. "They threatened if we went [to the protest], we would be killed. A friend of mine asked them not to shoot us because we have pens and not guns, but when he raised his pen security forces opened fire and he was badly injured."</p> <p>Since then, this student said, she has received anonymous threatening phone calls telling her not to return to Sulaymaniya. Security forces raided Koya University, where she studies, and arrested two students. Their whereabouts remain unknown.</p> <p>The family of a prominent Kurdish writer and activist, Rebin Hardi, told Human Rights Watch that security forces severely beat him during and after his arrest on April 19 for participating in a protest in front of the Sulaimaniya courthouse. Photos taken after his release later that day viewed by Human Rights Watch showed severe swelling up and down the right sight of his body including his eye, arm, and thigh.</p> <p>Since February 17, clashes with security forces have killed at least seven civilians and injured more than 250 demonstrators in Kurdistan, but thousands have continued to protest alleged corruption and the political dominance of the KDP and PUK.</p> <p>On April 19, the government’s Security Committee for Sulaimaniya Province banned all unlicensed demonstrations. Legislation passed by the Kurdistan Regional Government in December gives authorities wide discretion in deciding whether to approve a license for a protest. The law’s wording is exceptionally vague and susceptible to abuse, Human Rights Watch said. Under article 3(c) of the law, authorities can reject a request if "the protest will damage the system or public decency."</p> <h3>Protests in Baghdad</h3> <p>Iraqi security forces in Baghdad are detaining and abusing activists in connection with protests against the chronic lack of basic services and perceived widespread corruption. On April 8, security forces in a vehicle with markings from the 43rd Brigade of the Army’s 11th Division, arrested Nabil at the end of a peaceful protest at Tahrir Square. He was immediately transferred to other security forces in civilian clothing, and held for a week.</p> <p>Released on April 15, Nabil, an organizer of the February 25 Group – one of several groups planning demonstrations in the capital – told Human Rights Watch that he had been beaten repeatedly while his hands were held behind his back with plastic zip-ties, and often while blindfolded. He said his captors also used a stun gun on his arms, chest, and back.</p> <p>"I heard them giving orders to shock us and hit us only below the neck, so there wouldn’t be any marks. They shocked me and hit me on the arms and back and chest," he said. "I got a cut on my head that was bleeding, and one of the guards yelled at another who caused it. ‘Why did you make him bleed? He is a son of a bitch and will make a scandal for us. Do not leave any marks. Hit him in places where there will be no marks.’"</p> <p>Nabil said his captors went through his cell phone and told him, "We know all these numbers, and we are watching and listening to all your calls.’"</p> <p>Nabil had previously been arrested on March 22, and Human Rights Watch witnessed signs of physical abuse immediately after his release from that detention. Human Rights Watch sent inquiries about Nabil’s arrest and others to the offices of the prime minister and security officials but has received no response from authorities.</p> <p>On April 13, security forces entered the adjoining offices of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) and the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), where the February 25 Group has held meetings in Baghdad. The security forces arrested one of the group’s members, Firas Ali, who has peacefully participated in several of the Tahrir Square demonstrations.</p> <p>A protester detained in early April for taking part in demonstrations at Tahrir Square told Human Rights Watch upon his release that he saw Ali inside a prison in Baghdad’s Old Muthanna Airport. The witness said Ali was being held with more than two dozen protesters, 20 of whom were detained on the day of the April 15 demonstration.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch is also concerned about Haydar Shihab Ahmad, also from the February 25 Group, who has been missing since April 1, just after taking part in that day’s demonstration in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Members of his family told Human Rights Watch that they have made several inquiries at prisons in Baghdad in unsuccessful attempts to locate him, and have received no official reply about whether he has been detained.</p> <p>"Iraqi authorities need to release any peaceful protester held incommunicado and without charge, and account for those it is charging with a criminal offense," Stork said.</p> <p>Iraqi authorities have taken several steps to eliminate protests in the capital from public view. On April 13, officials issued new regulations barring street protests and allowing them only at three soccer stadiums.</p> <p>"We have specified Al-Shaab, Kashafa and Zawraa stadiums as permitted sites for demonstrations in Baghdad instead of Ferdus or Tahrir squares," Baghdad’s security spokesman, Major General Qassim Atta, said at a news conference televised by the state broadcaster, Iraqiyya TV. "Many shop owners and street vendors have called us and complained to us because demonstrations have affected their work and the movement of traffic."</p> <p>In late February, Iraqi police <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/17/iraq-investigate-protester-deaths" class="external" target="_blank">allowed dozens of assailants</a> to beat and stab peaceful protesters in Baghdad. In the early hours of February 21, dozens of men, some wielding knives and clubs, attacked about 50 protesters who had set up two tents in Tahrir Square. During nationwide February 25 protests, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100. On that day, Human Rights Watch observed Baghdad security forces beating unarmed journalists and protesters, smashing cameras, and confiscating memory cards.</p> <p>On June 25, 2010, in response to thousands of Iraqis who took to the streets to protest a chronic lack of government services, the Interior Ministry issued onerous regulations that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/09/17/iraq-stop-blocking-demonstrations" class="external" target="_blank">effectively impeded Iraqis from organizing</a> lawful protests. The regulations required organizers to get "written approval of both the minister of interior and the provincial governor" before submitting an application to the relevant police department.</p> <p>Iraq’s constitution guarantees "freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration."As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iraq is obligated to protect the rights to life and security of the person, and the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Iraq should also abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms, which state that lethal force may only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life, and must be exercised with restraint and proportionality. The principles also require governments to "ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offense under their law."</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/21/iraq-widening-crackdown-protests" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: Widening Crackdown on Protests | Human Rights Watch</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12120"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/05/iraq-muslim-solidarity-towards-iraqi-christians/#comments" title="Comment on IRAQ Muslim solidarity towards Iraqi Christians">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on January 5th, 2011 by Harith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/05/iraq-muslim-solidarity-towards-iraqi-christians/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to IRAQ Muslim solidarity towards Iraqi Christians">IRAQ Muslim solidarity towards Iraqi Christians</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archbishop-louis-sako/" rel="tag">Archbishop Louis Sako</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asia-news/" rel="tag">Asia News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asianews/" rel="tag">asianews</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean/" rel="tag">chaldean</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/egypt/" rel="tag">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnicity/" rel="tag">ethnicity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-christians/" rel="tag">iraqi christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kerbala/" rel="tag">kerbala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/layla-yousif-rahema/" rel="tag">Layla Yousif Rahema</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/muslimchristian-solidarity/" rel="tag">Muslim/Christian solidarity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pope/" rel="tag">Pope</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/solidarity/" rel="tag">Solidarity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>A delegation of Arab tribal chiefs visit the archdiocese of Kirkuk following the attacks against Baghdad cathedral and Egyptian Copts in Alexandria to voice their concern and express their closeness to their Christian “brothers”. A Christian woman who survived the slaughter in Baghdad’s Syriac-Catholic cathedral on 31 October is murdered.</p> <p>by Layla Yousif Rahema</p> </p></div> <p> Baghdad (AsiaNews) – At a time of escalating tensions and violence, Muslims leaders have expressed their solidarity with Iraqi Christians. Yesterday, some 20 sheikhs from Arab tribes in Nassiriyia, Kerbala, Diwaniyia, Imara, and Basra visited the Chaldean Archbishop’s Residence in Kirkuk to present their best wishes for the New Year, but also and especially to express their solidarity with Christians as well as voice their concern over mass Christian migration, particularly after the attack against Baghdad’s Syriac-Catholic cathedral on 31 October, and a Coptic church in Alexandria (Egypt) on 31 December. <p>During lunch with Archbishop Louis Sako, the Muslim leaders expressed their outrage and condemned the attacks against Christians. “Iraq without Christians would not be Iraq,” one of the sheikhs said. Another noted that his tribe was Christian before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, adding that “we cannot forget our roots.” Others highlighted the need “to strengthen the spirit of brotherhood because we are all children of Adam and Abraham.”</p> <p>The sheikhs gave Mgr Sako a gift, a sword to symbolise their offer of protection to Christians. The archbishop thanked them but said that “the Christian sword is love”.</p> <p>“As the Pope said, the attack against innocent people offends God and humanity. If we want to build life together and in harmony, we must educate our children to respect those who are different from us in terms of religion, culture or ethnicity, and respect the human mosaic that God created,” the Chaldean archbishop said. “Destroying it is to destroy not only peace but life itself.”</p> <p>After the meal, the entire Muslim delegation visited Kirkuk cathedral and listened to Mgr Sako explain the Christian prayer and how, within the church, men and women praise God.</p> <p>In the meantime, Christians are still losing their lives in Baghdad. On Sunday night, Rafah Butros Toma, a 44-year-old unmarried Christian woman, was murdered in her home. She was one of the worshippers who survived the al-Qaeda massacre at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral on 31 October. She worked at a local university and lived alone after her old father moved to a village in northern Iraq. She never stopped going to church.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Muslim-solidarity-towards-Iraqi-Christians-20419.html" class="external" target="_blank">IRAQ Muslim solidarity towards Iraqi Christians – Asia News</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11835"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/02/hundreds-of-christian-families-on-the-move-in-iraq/#respond" title="Comment on Hundreds of Christian families on the move in Iraq">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 2nd, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/02/hundreds-of-christian-families-on-the-move-in-iraq/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Hundreds of Christian families on the move in Iraq">Hundreds of Christian families on the move in Iraq</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amil/" rel="tag">Amil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ankawa-com/" rel="tag">ankawa com</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/azzaman/" rel="tag">azzaman</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-families/" rel="tag">christian families</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-minority/" rel="tag">christian minority</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christianity/" rel="tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - persecution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/churches/" rel="tag">churches</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-christians/" rel="tag">iraqi christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdish regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/leon-barkho/" rel="tag">leon barkho</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/monasteries/" rel="tag">Monasteries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security/" rel="tag">Security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Hundreds of Iraqi Christians families have fled their hometowns in search for security. </p> <p>Anti-Christian violence has escalated recently with several cities turning into bloody scenes in which innocent Christians have been killed or injured. </p> <p>The attacks have in the past few days targeted Christian property with several houses blown up in both Baghdad and Mosul. </p> <p>The fleeing Christians leave behind homes, furniture, jobs, professions, careers as well churches and monasteries some of which are more than 1000 years old. </p> <p>The government has promised to help but the aid is peanuts. It offers every fleeing family 500,000 Iraqi dinars (about $400). The sum can hardly cover one-month rent in the relatively quiet Kurdish north, for instance. </p> <p>More than 500 families, fleeing mainly cities such as Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, are on the move. </p> <p>Iraqi Internet news web sites with a focus on the plight of Iraqi Christians, among them the prominent <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.ankawa.com/english/" class="external" target="_blank">ankawa.com</a>, have shown pictures and footage of Iraqi Christians fleeing their areas to safer towns and villages in the north. </p> <p>Many of the families are among low-income groups and cannot afford to rent flats or houses. They are temporarily housed in churches and schools. </p> <p>The Kurdish regional government has promised to help, but it is extremely hard for any authority in a developing region such as northern Iraq to deal with the an influx of hundreds of families. </p> <p>Christians in some cities like Mosul are reported to be terrified. Despite the hardship, some families have decided to stay put as they find it too painful to abandon hometowns where family roots date back to the birth of Christianity. </p> <p>There are no exact numbers on how many Christians remain in Iraq, but their population has dwindled and many fear that the country is on its way to lose its once vibrant, intelligent and hard-working Christian minority forever.</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\new%20folder\kurd.htm">Hundreds of Christian families on the move in Iraq</a> By Leon Barkho <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?code=ennewsen" class="external" target="_blank">Azzaman in English</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11700"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/#respond" title="Comment on Exodus">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 26th, 2010 by Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/exodus/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Exodus">Exodus</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-amin/" rel="tag">al-Amin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/america/" rel="tag">America</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arabs/" rel="tag">Arabs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arbil/" rel="tag">Arbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archbishop-paul-faraj-kidnapping-and-murder-of/" rel="tag">Archbishop Paul Faraj - 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Anwar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vatican/" rel="tag">Vatican</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-bank/" rel="tag">West Bank</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 360px; padding-top: 0px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <strong>From Israel to Iraq, a Christian flight of Biblical proportions has begun.</strong> <p><a title="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5117481728/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="238" alt="20100913_cross_with_lights_Arbil" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/5117481728_113dc0d2e6_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>In the centre of the rebuilt Beirut, the massive old Maronite Cathedral of St George stands beside the even larger mass of the new Mohammad al-Amin mosque. The mosque’s minarets tower over the cathedral, but the Maronites were built a spanking new archbishop’s house between the two buildings as compensation. Yet every day, the two calls to prayer – the clanging of church bells and the wailing of the muezzin – beat an infernal percussion across the city. Both bells and wails are tape recordings, but they have been turned up to the highest decibel pitch to outdo each other, louder than an aircraft’s roar, almost as crazed as the nightclub music from Gemmayzeh across the square. But the Christians are leaving.</p> <p>Across the Middle East, it is the same story of despairing – sometimes frightened – Christian minorities, and of an exodus that reaches almost Biblical proportions. Almost half of Iraq’s Christians have fled their country since the first Gulf War in 1991, most of them after the 2004 invasion – a weird tribute to the self-proclaimed Christian faith of the two Bush presidents who went to war with Iraq – and stand now at 550,000, scarcely 3 per cent of the population. More than half of Lebanon’s Christians now live outside their country. Once a majority, the nation’s one and a half million Christians, most of them Maronite Catholics, comprise perhaps 35 per cent of the Lebanese. Egypt’s Coptic Christians – there are at most around eight million – now represent less than 10 per cent of the population.</p> <p>This is, however, not so much a flight of fear, more a chronicle of a death foretold. Christians are being outbred by the majority Muslim populations in their countries and they are almost hopelessly divided. In Jerusalem, there are 13 different Christian churches and three patriarchs. A Muslim holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to prevent Armenian and Orthodox priests fighting each other at Easter. </p> <p>When more than 200 members of 14 different churches – some of them divided – gathered in Rome last week for a papal synod on the loss of Christian populations in the lands where Christianity began, it was greeted with boredom or ignored altogether by most of the West’s press.</p> <p>Yet nowhere is the Christian fate sadder than in the territories around Jerusalem. As Monsignor Fouad Twal, the ninth Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the second to be an Arab, put it bleakly, "the Israelis regard us as 100 per cent Palestinian Arabs and we are oppressed in the same way as the Muslims. But Muslim fundamentalists identify us with the Christian West – which is not always true – and want us to pay the price." With Christian Palestinians in Bethlehem cut off from Jerusalem by the same Israeli wall which imprisons their Muslim brothers, there is now, Twal says, "a young generation of Christians who do not know or visit the Holy Sepulchre".</p> <p>The Jordanian royal family have always protected their Christian population – at 350,000, it is around 6 per cent of the population – but this is perhaps the only flame of hope in the region. The divisions within Christianity proved even more dangerous to their community than the great Sunni-Shia divide did to the Muslims of the Middle East. Even the Crusaders were divided in their 100-year occupation of Palestine, or "Outremer", as they called it. The Lebanese journalist Fady Noun, a Christian, wrote a profound article from Rome last week in which he spoke of the Christian loss as "a great wound haemorrhaging blood", and bemoaned both Christian division and "egoism" for what he saw as a spiritual as well as a physical emigration. "There are those Christians who reach a kind of indifference… in Western countries who, swayed by the culture of these countries and the media, persuade eastern Christians to forget their identity," he wrote.</p> <p>Pope Benedict, whose mournful visit to the Holy Land last year prompted him to call the special synod which ended in the Vatican at the weekend, has adopted his usual perspective – that, despite their difficulties, Christians of the "Holy Land" must reinvigorate their feelings as "living stones" of the Middle Eastern Church. "To live in dignity in your own nation is before everything a fundamental human right," he said. "That is why you must support conditions of peace and justice, which are indispensable for the harmonious development of all the inhabitants of the region." But the Pope’s words sometimes suggested that real peace and justice lay in salvation rather than historical renewal.</p> <p>Patriarch Twal believes that the Pope understood during his trip to Israel and the West Bank last year "the disastrous consequences of the conflict between Jews and Palestinian Arabs" and has stated openly that one of the principal causes of Christian emigration is "the Israeli occupation, the Christians’ lack of freedom of movement, and the economic circumstances in which they live". But he does not see the total disappearance of the Christian faith in the Middle East. "We must have the courage to accept that we are Arabs and Christians and be faithful to this identity. Our wonderful mission is to be a bridge between East and West."</p> <p>One anonymous prelate at the Rome synod, quoted in one of the synod’s working papers, took a more pragmatic view. "Let’s stop saying there is no problem with Muslims; this isn’t true," he said. "The problem doesn’t only come from fundamentalists, but from constitutions. In all the countries of the region except Lebanon, Christians are second-class citizens." If religious freedom is guaranteed in these countries, "it is limited by specific laws and practices". In Egypt, this has certainly been the case since President Sadat referred to himself as "the Muslim president of a Muslim country".</p> <p>The Lebanese Maronite Church – its priests, by the way, can marry – understands all too well how Christians can become aligned with political groups. The Lebanese writer Sami Khalife wrote last week in the French-language newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour – the francophone voice of Lebanon’s Christians – that a loss of moral authority had turned churches in his country into "political actors" which were beginning to sound like political parties. An open letter to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, warning him to try to turn Lebanon into a "front line" against Israel, was signed by 250 Lebanese. Most of them were from the minority Christian community.</p> <p>Nor can the church ignore Saudi Arabia, where Christianity is banned as a religion just as much as the building of churches. Christians cannot visit the Islamic holy cities of Mecca or Medina – the doors of the Vatican and Canterbury Cathedral are at least open to Muslims – and 12 Filipinos and a priest were arrested in Saudi Arabia only this month for "proselytism" for holding a secret mass. There is, perhaps, a certain irony in the fact that the only balance to Christian emigration has been the arrival in the Middle East of perhaps a quarter of a million Christian Filipino guest workers – especially in the Gulf region – while Patriarch Twal reckons that around 40,000 of them now work and live in Israel and "Palestine".</p> <p>Needless to say, it is violence against Christians that occupies the West, a phenomenon nowhere better, or more bloodily, illustrated than by al-Qa’ida’s kidnapping of Archbishop Faraj Rahho in Mosul – an incident recorded in the US military archives revealed on Saturday – and his subsequent murder. When the Iraqi authorities later passed death sentences on two men for the killing, the church asked for them to be reprieved. In Egypt, there has been a gloomy increase in Christian-Muslim violence, especially in ancient villages in the far south of the country; in Cairo, Christian churches are now cordoned off by day-and-night police checkpoints.</p> <p>And while Western Christians routinely deplore the falling Christian populations of the Middle East, their visits to the region tend to concentrate on pilgrimages to Biblical sites rather than meetings with their Christian opposite numbers. </p> <p>Americans, so obsessed by the myths of East-West "clashes of civilisation" since 11 September 2001, often seem to regard Christianity as a "Western" rather than an Eastern religion, neatly separating the Middle East roots of their own religion from the lands of Islam. That in itself is a loss of faith.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-exodus-the-changing-map-of-the-middle-east-2116463.html" class="external" target="_blank">Robert Fisk: Exodus. The changing map of the Middle East – Robert Fisk, Commentators – The Independent</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11560"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/06/%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%88-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d9%8a%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87%d9%85-%d8%ad%d8%aa%d9%89-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%aa%d8%b1/#respond" title="Comment on مسيحيو العراق يفرون من بلادهم حتى مع تراجع حدة التوتر">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 6th, 2010 by Khalil Ibn Hussein</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/06/%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%88-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d9%8a%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%86-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a8%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87%d9%85-%d8%ad%d8%aa%d9%89-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%aa%d8%b1/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to مسيحيو العراق يفرون من بلادهم حتى مع تراجع حدة التوتر">مسيحيو العراق يفرون من بلادهم حتى مع تراجع حدة التوتر</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qaeda/" rel="tag">Al Qaeda</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-university-students/" rel="tag">christian university students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christianity/" rel="tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-killing-of/" rel="tag">Christians - killing of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - persecution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/churches/" rel="tag">churches</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing/" rel="tag">Ethnic Cleansing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gzg-failure-to-protect-christians/" rel="tag">GZG failure to protect Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/holland/" rel="tag">Holland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-law/" rel="tag">International Law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-christians/" rel="tag">iraqi christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kidnapping/" rel="tag">kidnapping</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kidnappings/" rel="tag">Kidnappings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa-governorate/" rel="tag">Ninawa (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nineveh/" rel="tag">Nineveh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/parliamentary-election/" rel="tag">parliamentary election</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pope/" rel="tag">Pope</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote> <p>الموصل (العراق) (<a title="رويترز" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://ara.reuters.com/article/topNews/idARACAE6950U020101006?sp=true" class="external" target="_blank">رويترز</a>) – خفض بسام هرمز أسعار بضائعه لتصفية مخزونه من الاجهزة الكهربائية كي يغلق متجره وينضم لعدة الاف من العراقيين المسيحيين في الخارج.</p> <p>وبلغ عدد مسيحيي العراق في وقت من الاوقات 750 ألفا في بلد غالبية سكانه من المسلمين. ويبلغ عدد سكان العراق 30 مليونا. ووقع المسيحيون في مرمى نيران العنف الطائفي التي أشعلها الغزو الذي قادته الولايات المتحدة للاطاحة بنظام صدام حسين العلماني عام 2003.</p> <p>وخوفا على أنفسهم ناشد القادة المسيحيون في العراق البابا بنديكت تقديم العون.</p> <p>ودعا البابا الذي يساوره القلق أيضا بشأن تراجع الوجود المسيحي في المناطق الفلسطينية التي تحتلها اسرائيل مجلس أساقفة للاجتماع بين 10 و24 من أكتوبر تشرين الاول لبحث سبل عمل الكنائس معا من أجل الحفاظ على أقدم الطوائف المسيحية.</p> <p>وسيبحث الاجتماع وثيقة أعدها الفاتيكان تنتقد "عدم احترام القانون الدولي" وانتهاكات حقوق الانسان وخروج المسيحيين من الشرق الاوسط فرارا من الصراعات.</p> <p>وتفيد الوثيقة التي نشرت في يونيو حزيران بأن هجرة المسيحيين "زادت على نحو خاص جراء الصراع الفلسطيني الاسرائيلي وحالة عدم الاستقرار في الشرق الاوسط."</p> <p>وتشير الوثيقة الى عدم الاستقرار السياسي في لبنان والاوضاع الخطرة في العراق "حيث أطلقت الحرب قوى الشر".</p> <p>وأدت أعمال العنف وحالة انعدام الامن الطويلة الامد التي سادت بعد الحرب الى اخافة المسيحيين الذين يشعر كثير منهم بأنهم لا مستقبل لهم في العراق.</p> <p>وقال هرمز صاحب المتجر الذي سيأخذ أسرته من مدينة الموصل المضطربة في شمال العراق الى هولندا التي يعيش فيها شقيقه "قررنا المغادرة بعدما فقدنا الامل في العيش في سلام في العراق. لم يكن هذا خيارنا."</p> <p>وألقى نظرة ملؤها الحسرة على البقية الباقية من البضائع في متجره. كما يبدو منزل أسرته خاويا بعدما تم بيع معظم أثاثه.</p> <p>ومنذ عام 2003 غادر العراق مئات الالاف من المسيحيين الذين وصفهم البابا بنديكت بأنهم "أضعف أقلية دينية" في العراق وذلك في مناشدة من أجل تحسين الامن هذا العام.</p> <p>وربما لم يعد من الاقلية المسيحية الراسخة القدم في العراق منذ قرون الا نصفها على الرغم من عدم وجود بيانات رسمية بشأن عددهم.</p> <p>ويغادر البلاد المزيد من المسيحيين على الرغم من تراجع حدة العنف بشكل عام في الاعوام الثلاثة الاخيرة مع انحسار اراقة الدماء بين الاغلبية الشيعية والاقلية السنية التي كانت تحكم البلاد فيما سبق.</p> <p>وما زال المسيحيون يتعرضون لهجمات بين الحين والاخر ولاسيما في محافظة نينوى في شمال البلاد والتي تعتبر اخر معقل حضري لمتشددي القاعدة الاسلاميين.</p> <p>ولم يتضح ما اذا كانت الهجمات تستهدفهم بسبب دينهم أو بسبب العناوين التي تنشرها وسائل الاعلام الغربية بشأن معاناتهم أو بسبب انتمائهم السياسي أو لاسباب أخرى.</p> <p>وفي فبراير شباط قتل مسلحون ثمانية مسيحيين في الشوارع أو في أماكن عملهم في الموصل مما دفع بالالاف للفرار.</p> <p>ووقعت أعمال القتل تلك قبل أسبوعين من انتخابات برلمانية لم تسفر عن فائز واضح ولم تتشكل حكومة جديدة حتى بعد مرور ستة شهور على اجرائها.</p> <p>وفي مايو أيار انفجرت قنبلة بالقرب من حافلة تقل طلابا جامعيين مسيحيين في الموصل مما أدى الى مقتل واحد منهم على الاقل واصابة مئة.</p> <p>ومهاجمة المسيحيين وسيلة ناجعة لتسليط الضوء على قصور قوات الامن العراقية فهي تجتذب اهتماما اعلاميا أكبر بكثير من الاهتمام الذي يجتذبه قتل أعداد أكبر كثيرا من المسلمين.</p> <p>ويشعر المسيحيون كغيرهم من أبناء الاقليات في شمال العراق بعدم الامان بينما يتقاتل العرب والاكراد على الاراضي وعلى النفط.</p> <p>وقال باسم بلو رئيس بلدية تلكيف القريبة من الموصل ان مغادرتهم على أشدها لعدة أسباب منها الوضع الاقتصادي والامني والهجمات المباشرة وأعمال الخطف التي يتعرض لها المسيحيون. وأشار الى أن 1050 أسرة في بلدته ذات الاغلبية المسيحية نزحت الى الخارج في عام 2008 وحده.</p> <p>ويكون الخروج في الاغلب عاطفيا كما هو الحال بالنسبة لهرمز وأسرته التي تغادر منزلها الذي بنته قبل 20 عاما في الموصل.</p> <p>وقالت أم ادوارد زوجة هرمز "كنت أرفض فكرة المغادرة.. ولكنني تقبلتها بمضي الوقت وخصوصا حينما أسمع بمقتل أصدقاء وأشعر بالحزن أيضا على حديقتنا التي أحبها كثيرا لن يعتني بها أحد كما أعتني بها."</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://ara.reuters.com/article/topNews/idARACAE6950U020101006?sp=true" class="external" target="_blank">مسيحيو العراق يفرون من بلادهم حتى مع تراجع حدة التوتر | أخبار الشرق الأوسط | Reuters</a></p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11557"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/06/iraqi-christians-flee-homeland-even-as-war-fades-reuters/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi Christians flee homeland even as war fades | Reuters">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 6th, 2010 by Khalil Ibn Hussein</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/06/iraqi-christians-flee-homeland-even-as-war-fades-reuters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi Christians flee homeland even as war fades | Reuters">Iraqi Christians flee homeland even as war fades | Reuters</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qaeda/" rel="tag">Al Qaeda</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-university-students/" rel="tag">christian university students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christianity/" rel="tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-killing-of/" rel="tag">Christians - killing of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - persecution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/churches/" rel="tag">churches</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing/" rel="tag">Ethnic Cleansing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gzg-failure-to-protect-christians/" rel="tag">GZG failure to protect Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/holland/" rel="tag">Holland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-law/" rel="tag">International Law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-christians/" rel="tag">iraqi christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kidnapping/" rel="tag">kidnapping</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kidnappings/" rel="tag">Kidnappings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa-governorate/" rel="tag">Ninawa (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nineveh/" rel="tag">Nineveh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/parliamentary-election/" rel="tag">parliamentary election</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pope/" rel="tag">Pope</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Bassam Hermiz has slashed prices to clear his stock of electrical appliances, close his shop and join many thousands of other Iraqi Christians abroad.</p> <p>Once numbering some 750,000 in this mainly Muslim country of 30 million, Christians have been trapped in the crossfire of sectarian strife ignited after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s secular dictatorship in 2003.</p> <p>Alarmed that their flock could face extinction, Iraqi Christian leaders appealed to the Vatican for help.</p> <p>Pope Benedict, also worried about the shrinking Christian presence in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, has called a synod of bishops for October 10-24 to discuss how churches can work together to preserve Christianity’s oldest communities.</p> <p>The special assembly will consider a Vatican document that decries "disregard for international law," human rights abuses and an exodus of Christians fleeing conflict in the Middle East.</p> <p>The document, released in June, says Christian emigration is "particularly prevalent because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resulting instability in the Middle East."</p> <p>It also cites political instability in Lebanon and menacing conditions in Iraq, "where the war has unleashed evil forces."</p> <p>Post-invasion bloodshed and chronic insecurity have spooked Iraqi Christians, many of whom feel they have no future here.</p> <p>"We decided to leave after we lost hope of living in peace in Iraq. It was not our choice," said Hermiz, the shopkeeper who is taking his family from the volatile northern city of Mosul to Holland, where his brother already lives.</p> <p>He cast a dejected eye over the few remaining goods in his shop. His two-storey family home, replete with balconies and marble, also looks forlorn with most of the furniture sold.</p> <p>Hundreds of thousands of Christians, described by Pope Benedict as Iraq’s "most vulnerable religious minority" in an appeal for better security this year, have left since 2003.</p> <h3>CHRISTIAN EXODUS</h3> <p>Perhaps only half of a Christian community rooted here for centuries remains, although no official figures exist.</p> <p>And more Christians are leaving, despite a plunge in overall violence in the past three years as bloodletting between majority Shi’ites and once dominant Sunni Muslims tapers off.</p> <p>Every now and then Christians still come under attack, especially in the northern province of Nineveh, considered the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda Islamist militants.</p> <p>It is not always clear whether they are targeted for their faith, for the headlines their woes generate in Western media, for their political allegiances or for other reasons.</p> <p>In February, gunmen killed eight Christians in the streets or at work in Mosul, prompting thousands of others to flee.</p> <p>The slayings occurred two weeks before an inconclusive parliamentary election that has produced no new government six months later. The stalemate threatens Iraq’s fragile security, along with most other aspects of life in a traumatized nation.</p> <p>In May bomb blasts near a bus carrying Christian university students in Mosul killed at least one and wounded 100.</p> <p>Attacking Christians is an effective way to highlight the shortcomings of Iraq’s security forces, attracting more media attention than the far higher casualties among Iraqi Muslims.</p> <p>Christians, like other minorities in northern Iraq, feel insecure as the region’s Arabs and Kurds feud over land and oil.</p> <p>"The departure is in full swing for many reasons: the security and economic situation, and the direct attacks and kidnappings that Christians have been exposed to," said Bassim Bello, mayor of Telkaif near Mosul. He said 1,050 families in the mainly Christian town had fled abroad in 2008 alone.</p> <p>Exile is often heart-breaking, as it is for Hirmiz and his family, quitting the home they built 20 years ago in Mosul.</p> <p>"I used to reject the idea of leaving, but I’ve got used to it over time, especially when I hear of the killing of friends," sighed Um Edwar, Hermiz’s wife. "I also feel sad about the garden, which I adore. No one will take care of it like I do."</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69535E20101006" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Christians flee homeland even as war fades | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11279"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/07/the-razor-and-the-damage-done-female-genital-mutilation-in-kurdish-iraq/#comments" title="Comment on The razor and the damage done: female genital mutilation in Kurdish Iraq">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on July 7th, 2010 by Haleema Al-Azzawi</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/07/the-razor-and-the-damage-done-female-genital-mutilation-in-kurdish-iraq/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The razor and the damage done: female genital mutilation in Kurdish Iraq">The razor and the damage done: female genital mutilation in Kurdish Iraq</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asuda/" rel="tag">Asuda</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chulov-martin/" rel="tag">Chulov - Martin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/female-genital-mutilation/" rel="tag">Female genital mutilation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/guardian-the/" rel="tag">Guardian The</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-ministry/" rel="tag">Human Rights Ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-watch/" rel="tag">Human Rights Watch</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-kurdistan/" rel="tag">Iraqi kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rania/" rel="tag">Rania</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaymaniyah/" rel="tag">Sulaymaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-health-organisation/" rel="tag">World Health Organisation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/yemen/" rel="tag">Yemen</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Mixture of motives persuades villages to maintain practice that often leaves lasting effects on young girls</p> <p>The old Kurdish midwife’s hands trembled alongside a bowl that she positions to catch dripping blood. She picked up a razor blade and sliced through a corner of paper, mimicking the ritual cut she has performed at least 500 times, on young girls’ genitals.</p> <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 310px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <h3>About FGM</h3> <p>• More than 3 million girls under 15 undergo female genital mutilation each year, according to the World Health Organisation. Up to 140 million women and girls are believed to have undergone the practice. </p> <p>•FGM is practised in at least 28 countries, including Yemen, Egypt, and parts of Asia. </p> <p>•A vote in 2008 in the Kurdish national assembly passed a bill outlawing FGM. It has not yet been enacted. </p> <p>•FGM ranges from removal of the clitoris, to removal of the clitoris and labia, to cutting and stitching and, in some cases, cauterisation. </p> <p><em>Sources: WHO; Human Rights Watch</em>  </p> <p>The screenshot below is from the accompanying video</p> <p><a title="20100707_screenshot_guardian_video_female_genital_mutilation" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4771886422/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" alt="20100707_screenshot_guardian_video_female_genital_mutilation" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515im_/http://static.flickr.com/4115/4771886422_f1d0a68575.jpg" border="0"/></a></p> <p>follow this link:</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jun/28/female-circumcision-kurdish-iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Video: Female genital mutilation in Kurdistan: a midwife’s tale | World news | guardian.co.uk</a> </p> <p>to get to it.</p> </p></div> <p>"In the name of God, the most compassionate and merciful," Naksheen Moustafa said. "That’s it! It’s simple. I have never had a problem with this procedure in all the time I have done it."</p> <p>But in a small home on the outskirts of the same village in northern Iraq, Jiana Ali Mohammed sat on the floor, her wide eyes staring into the middle distance. Jiana, now 17, underwent female genital mutilation twice as a seven-year-old; once by a midwife in the morning, and the second time later that day by her grandmother, who thought the job had not been done properly. Her clitoris and labia were sliced away, a procedure far more invasive than the symbolic nip described by Moustafa. Jiana bled for days and lost movement for a while in her lower limbs.</p> <p>She is developmentally delayed and socially backward. Her mother, Nazeka Shemen, blames her daughter’s woes on the trauma of that day.</p> <p>All four of her daughters before Jiana also underwent genital mutilation, but she said she would never put a new daughter through the ordeal.</p> <p>"I have come to accept that it was wrong," said Shemen. "I would not do this to another child and I regret doing what we have done. Everyone has done it in Rania, including me. It is not a practice that has been questioned until recently."</p> <p>There was a widespread feeling among the Kurdish women watching Moustafa’s demonstration that the midwife was deliberately underestimating the cruelty of her cut, perhaps because of wariness about increasing scrutiny from the outside world.</p> <p>For 20 years, the village elder has been the woman that parents take their daughters to in Rania village, in Iraq’s north, to undergo female genital mutilation, arguably in greater numbers proportionally than anywhere else in the Middle East. Around 90% of adult women in at least eight villages in the Sulaymaniyah district alone are believed to been subjected to the practice.</p> <p>Moustafa, 68, learned her cottage craft from another old woman, who, until she died, had been one of the last practitioners of this highly contentious tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan.</p> <p>Judging by the knowledge bestowed, neither Moustafa nor her predecessors could be deemed to be midwives in the true sense of the word. Clinical care appears to have been universally absent in the practice. So too, until very recently, was antiseptic or even basic surgical dressings. Instead, ash is often rubbed into the wound.</p> <p><strong>Family ‘honour’</strong></p> <p>The absence of modern medicine has not deterred many of the families in Rania and a swath of Iraq’s remote Kurdish north from continuing with a tradition that has been disavowed in much of Arab Iraq and by Islamic clerics across the region.</p> <p>Even now, after more than two decades of public awareness programmes in often impoverished villages, parents are still sending their girls in large numbers, believing it to be the fulfilment of a Qur’an instruction, which will cause the girls no harm and will instead help purify the family home.</p> <p>Unlike elsewhere in Iraq, the practice of female genital mutilation became entrenched in the Kurdish north as a convention passed on through the ages.</p> <p>Recent research by Human Rights Watch showed that there are at least four factors driving this: a link to Kurdish identity, a religious imperative, social pressure, and an attempt to control a woman’s sexuality.</p> <p>The mix of motivations has combined to give the custom a hold that prevails in the face of rulings from leading religious figures, a move by Kurdish law-makers to outlaw it, and the scorn of conservative societies outside the north who look down on the Kurds’ ways.</p> <p>Recent studies, including an Iraqi human rights ministry survey conducted last year, show that up to 23% of Iraqi Kurdish girls under 13 have undergone female genital mutilation. However, the report also reveals the figure is sharply higher among girls aged 14 to 18 (45%), suggesting an apparent recent shift in attitudes.</p> <p>Slowly, mothers in Rania and, in some cases, the sheikhs who offer religious authority for the practice, are beginning to reassess their views. A key reason for this is the palpable harm that has been done to girls like Jiana.</p> <p>There is evidence in Rania that comprehensive slicing of a girl’s genitals has been commonplace.</p> <p>Four women spoken to by the Guardian say they bled for many days after their procedures, which took place before any of the girls reached sexual maturity.</p> <p>Two of them say they continue to suffer from infections. All the women said they were told that the procedures had upheld their family honour.</p> <p>Others in the village say they have had no problem with the tradition. The Otthman family’s six daughters have all been attended to by Moustafa. "She came here with a ball of cotton and a razor," said the girls’ mother, Basra Sayed.</p> <p>"I believe that this is prescribed by Islamic tradition and should be done to both boys and girls," she said. "The difference in our society has been that for the boys we get a doctor to do it, and for the girls we get a midwife.</p> <p>"None of my daughters had any complications, but I have heard that there were girls who bled a lot and had to go to hospital. My girls, however, were cut during the morning and were fine by the afternoon."</p> <p>Sayed insists that her daughters were not subjected to the procedure that removes their labia, or clitoris. "It was just like the old lady said, she was very professional and quick.</p> <p>"Two of my daughters are now married," she added. "And they both fully enjoy their sexual lives."</p> <p>Sayed’s words reflect the fact that inroads appear to have been made into at least one taboo – discussion about the impact of the procedure on a woman’s sexual health and enjoyment.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch last year interviewed 31 victims, many of whom described traumatic experiences that have left lasting consequences. A report prepared by Asuda, the women’s rights group, also last year found sexual enjoyment in many victims was greatly diminished.</p> <p><strong>Religious debate</strong></p> <p>The best hope of eradicating female genital mutilation as a convention in the Kurdish north appears to rest with Muslim clerics. On that front, the prognosis appears mixed.</p> <p>"We have seen some clerics prepared to accept that this is not sanctioned by religion," said the director of Asuda’s Suleimaneya office, Khanim Latif. "But there are others who still say strongly that it is."</p> <p>Throughout Rania, there is a sense that more people than ever before are looking disapprovingly at the practice and, by extension, their society.</p> <p>People here seem ready to accept change, but only if it is spelt out wholeheartedly by the clerics they have listened to for generations.</p> <p>"We want the clerics to say, stop doing this," said Jian’s mother. "We are waiting for this and the time is right to do it."</p> <p>The ageing midwife up the road also seemed willing to accept change.</p> <p>"If a sheikh said today to stop this, I would stop it today," she said, dropping the razor blade and cotton wool into her bowl.</p> <p>Her voice trailing away, she added: "This has never hurt anyone, but if it could … I don’t want to be the one responsible."</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/female-genital-mutilation-kurdish-iraq" class="external" target="_blank">The razor and the damage done: female genital mutilation in Kurdish Iraq | World news | The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11257"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/05/%d8%a5%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a9-%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%88%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%b7%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d8%ab%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%b4%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%82%d9%88%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a3/#respond" title="Comment on إصابة جندي وشرطي اثناء شجار بين قوتين أمنيتين في ديالى">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 5th, 2010 by Saba Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/05/%d8%a5%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a9-%d8%ac%d9%86%d8%af%d9%8a-%d9%88%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%b7%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d8%ab%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%b4%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%82%d9%88%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a3/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to إصابة جندي وشرطي اثناء شجار بين قوتين أمنيتين في ديالى">إصابة جندي وشرطي اثناء شجار بين قوتين أمنيتين في ديالى</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disputed-areas/" rel="tag">"disputed" areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jalula/" rel="tag">Jalula</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jalulah/" rel="tag">Jalulah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatism/" rel="tag">Kurdish Separatism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatism-resistance-to/" rel="tag">Kurdish Separatism - resistance to</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatists/" rel="tag">kurdish separatists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/peshmerga/" rel="tag">Peshmerga</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qara-tapa/" rel="tag">Qara Tapa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qarah-tappah/" rel="tag">Qarah Tappah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-checkpoints/" rel="tag">security checkpoints</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkmen/" rel="tag">Turkmen</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p dir="rtl" align="right">أكد مصدر أمني في محافظة ديالى إصابة جندي وشرطي بجروح خطرة اثناء شجار نشب بين قوتين مسلحتين شمالي المحافظة. <br/>وقال المصدر في تصريح صحافي، الاثنين، ان أسباب الشجار لم تُعرف بعد، مبيناً أن القوات الأمنية فرضت طوقاً أمنياً حول مكان الحادث ونقلت الجريحين إلى مستشفى قريب، وفتحت تحقيقاً فورياً للكشف عن ملابسات الحادث.</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11251"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/05/the-clash-of-nationalisms-in-diyala/#respond" title="Comment on The Clash of Nationalisms in Diyala">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 5th, 2010 by Saba Ali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/05/the-clash-of-nationalisms-in-diyala/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The Clash of Nationalisms in Diyala">The Clash of Nationalisms in Diyala</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disputed-areas/" rel="tag">"disputed" areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jalula/" rel="tag">Jalula</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jalulah/" rel="tag">Jalulah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatism/" rel="tag">Kurdish Separatism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatism-resistance-to/" rel="tag">Kurdish Separatism - resistance to</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-separatists/" rel="tag">kurdish separatists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/" rel="tag">northern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/peshmerga/" rel="tag">Peshmerga</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qara-tapa/" rel="tag">Qara Tapa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qarah-tappah/" rel="tag">Qarah Tappah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-checkpoints/" rel="tag">security checkpoints</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkmen/" rel="tag">Turkmen</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 300px; padding-top: 0px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p>This report from <a title="Reuters" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6642E520100705" class="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a> is not at all surprising to me.  Qara Tapa, Saadiyah, and Jalulah are all what the Kurdish separatists like to call "disputed areas". What this means is that they want to hive these areas off from Irak and make them part of the KRG. </p> <p>The peshmerga idea is to use these villages as fortified enclaves in a <em>cordon sanitaire</em>.</p> <p>The local Arab population, the Turkmen, and all the other groups in the area oppose this Kudish plan. </p> <p>What we are seeing in this relatively minor incident is the conflict between two nationalisms — Iraki nationalism and Kurdish nationalism.</p> <p>The Americans are right to suspect that there will be a reckoning once they leave.</p> <p>Saba Ali</p> </p></div> <p> </div> </p></div> </p></div> <blockquote><p>Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish peshmerga fighters exchanged punches and some gunfire along the volatile frontline between minority Kurds and Iraq’s majority Arabs, Iraqi officials said on Monday.</p> <p>The confrontation in Qarah Tappah in Diyala province came on Sunday as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden held talks with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, providing a reminder of the flashpoints that Iraq still has to resolve as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.</p> <p>U.S. military leaders fear that long-running disputes between Kurds and Iraqi Arabs over land, oil and power could lead to Iraq’s next major conflict as the sectarian bloodshed unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion recedes.</p> <p>U.S. troops, and local leaders, intervened in Qarah Tappah and calm had returned, officials said. No one died.</p> <p>Accounts of the fistfights and exchanges of gunfire given by Iraqi were contradictory and the U.S. military had no comment.</p> <p>A police official in the town said the incident began when a Kurdish peshmerga force parked in a "provocative" position in a market place, blocking other traffic.</p> <p>An Iraqi army patrol ordered the Kurdish fighters to move but the peshmerga refused. Both sides then started trading insults until a scuffle broke out.</p> <p>"The Kurdish vehicle drove away and it seems they went to get help. When they came back later clashes erupted," he said. "The Kurdish peshmerga were the first to open fire at the Iraqi military force, wounding two Iraqi soldiers."</p> <p>One Kurdish peshmerga member was also wounded, he said.</p> <p>The official report of the incident said the clashes began when an Iraqi army vehicle crashed into a peshmerga Humvee and another car, an official in the Diyala operations center said.</p> <p>A gunfight then broke out between Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish police, the official said.</p> <p>One soldier and policeman were injured and fistfights later erupted between Kurdish fighters and Iraqi troops manning joint checkpoints in the area.</p> <p>"This is not dangerous. These soldiers and peshmerga working on these checkpoints are young. They cannot control their tempers," the official said.</p> <p>A third version given by a local Kurdish leader said Kurdish fighters beat a soldiers so badly his commanding officer ordered troops to storm the local peshmerga headquarters.</p> <p>The Iraqi soldiers went in shooting, he said. Four of them were wounded. He had no information about peshmerga casualties.</p> <p>U.S. forces have tried to bridge the divide between Kurdish and Iraqi army forces in disputed areas, which Kurds claim as part of their semi-autonomous northern enclave, by organizing joint Iraqi-Kurdish security checkpoints.</p> <p>The U.S. military believes that by working together, the two sides can grow to trust each other. But the cooperation may vanish after U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq at the end of 2011.</p> <p>The U.S. military plans to end combat operations in August ahead of next year’s full pullout, as President Barack Obama refocuses U.S. efforts and resources on the war in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has proved resilient.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6642E520100705" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq troops and Kurd fighters clash in volatile north | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125154515/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northern-iraq/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a 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