Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: La parte "pacificata" dell'Iraq

The Irish Times, Wed, Jun 29, 05
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2005/0629/451689711FR29BASRA.html
Frightened city ruled by religion
by Louise Roug in Basra
IRAQ: Physicians have been beaten for treating female patients in
Basra, liquor salesmen have been killed. Even barbers have faced threats
for giving haircuts judged too short or too fashionable.
Religion rules the streets of this once cosmopolitan city, where women
no longer dare to go out uncovered.
"We can't sing in public anymore," said Hussin Nimma, a popular singer
from the south. "It's ironic.
"We thought that with the change of the regime, people would be more
open to singing, art and poetry."
Unmarked cars cruise the streets, carrying armed and plain-clothed
enforcers of Islamic law. Who they are or to whom they answer is
unclear, but residents believe they are part of a battle for Basra's
soul.
Earlier this spring, Shia and Sunni Muslim officials were killed in a
series of assassinations here, and residents feared their city would
fall prey to the kind of sectarian violence ailing the rest of the
country.
Instead, conservative Shia Islamic parties have solidified their grip,
fully institutionalising their power in a city where the Shia majority
had long been persecuted by the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam
Hussein.
While eager to distance themselves from the militias, Shia religious
parties now control both the streets and the council chambers.
Although Basra has not suffered the same level of bombings and
assassinations as major cities to the north, the trade-off for law and
order appears to be a crackdown on social practices and mores that were
permissible under the secular, if repressive, regime of Saddam.
In a sign of Basra's strategic and symbolic importance, Abdelaziz Hakim,
head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a leading
Shia party, visited the city this month.
Thousands of residents watched as the former commander of the Supreme
Council's paramilitary force released 18 white doves representing peace.
However peace in Basra, Iraq's second most populous city, has come at a
cost.
A few weeks ago, the Basra police chief acknowledged that he had lost
control of his 13,000-strong force to Shia militiamen who have joined
up.
He was removed from his job. His replacement is rumoured to be Lt Col
Salam Badran, who is affiliated with the Supreme Council.
Some residents believe many members of the council-affiliated
paramilitary force, the Badr Brigade, have signed on to the Basra police
force and give first loyalty to the party.
"The militias are more powerful than the police," said Saba Shedar, a
goldsmith. The man who brought home a bottle of liquor or the woman
without a veil both risk beatings, he said.
Merchants who kept their shops open well into the night now close
promptly at sunset out of fear.
"This is the democracy of 2005," Mr Shedar said. "We expected
improvement, but now there's no freedom in the streets for the women.
People are afraid."
The militiamen carry out political assassinations and dole out
punishment for alleged religious infractions, residents say.
Local Supreme Council officials deny any participation in the
clandestine killings and emphasise their party's involvement in the
political process.
The Badr militia's most important job is setting an example of virtuous
conduct, said Furat Sharza, a council representative.
"Badr people can educate others," Mr Sharza said. "The role of Badr in
Basra - whether in security or other area - is big, vital."
A local businessman, who did not want to be identified for fear of
reprisal, compared the current strict rule to life under Saddam.
"While you need a strong police force, they have to be for the
government, not for the political parties."
On the Basra provincial council, 35 of the 41 members are affiliated
with Islamic Shia groups.
The governor is a member of a local political party connected to radical
Shia cleric Muqtada al- Sadr. Stickers and posters of the cleric
dominate the walls inside the provincial government building.
Just a few months ago, militiamen loyal to al-Sadr beat students at a
picnic in Andalus Park, allegedly because men and women were singing and
dancing together. Police stood and watched.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi militia clashed with US troops last year in Basra,
Baghdad and in the holy city of Najaf.
But al-Sadr has since agreed to disarm the militia, reportedly to
reinvent himself as a mainstream politician. "We don't have any kind of
relationship [ with the militias] or with the hands that are moving
them," said Abu Zehra Mayahi, an al-Sadr representative.
"We have good relations with other groups. Political representation on
the council includes Christians, Sunnis, Shiites."
Sabah Sudani, the deputy director of the Basra Chamber of Commerce, has
no quarrels with the militias. After all, he said, there's little
foreign investment without security.
While the ousting of Saddam brought optimism to Basra, residents
complain that considering the good security, there has been little
foreign investment and few public projects to improve the city's
infrastructure and create jobs.
That might soon change. Iraqi Airways began flying this month between
Baghdad and Basra, connecting businessmen in the capital with the city
that borders Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. About to arrive are United
Nations representatives and with them likely the World Bank and the
prospect of international investment.
Despite the prohibitions on such activities as drinking and singing,
tourists will also come to the city, Sudani predicted.
The view from the edge of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway had a pleasing
postcard quality. Swallows skimmed along the water's surface. Fishermen
mended their nets. A plaster Mickey Mouse - his nose too pointy - stood
guard at a now-closed carnival, the Ferris wheel frozen.
Nearby, a family dried their laundry amid the rubble of a former casino.
Abdul Kareem watched his son pull fish from the river. The river, green
like jade, is unchanged but the city is different, Kareem said.
Lovers used to be drawn here at night, he remembered. "Girlfriends,
wives - nobody asked," he said. "Now, no one dares."
He sighed at the memory of nightclubs now closed and girls without
veils. "Freedom," he said. - (Los Angeles Times - Washington Post
service)

 
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2005/0629/451689711FR29BASRA.html
Mi pare che l'accesso al link sia a pagamento :)
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