" I Got The CD"
The clinic was full of people waiting for their turn to see the dentist. I went out to the terrace of the clinic bearing in mind that I had to wait for long till I would see the doctor. There was a lady in her fifties, wearing black suit, waiting there too, and there was no better idea of how to spend the time rather than to chat with her and see if she had any good story that we can write about in our newspaper.
Like all the Iraqis, the main subject was about the horrible deterioration in the security situation and how killing is maintaining everybody.
The lady looked at me and said “ Iam not scared of killing, in fact Iam waiting for.”
For short while, I thought with myself whether that lady was sane or mad or may be she said that because of the toothache she had, but why she wanted to die? I kept asking myself.
“ People are thinking of leaving the country to escape killing and you want to die?.” I asked her just to push her to speak.
The lady said “ I want to leave too to see my brother.” I asked her” Where does he live?”
“ My brother is Dr.Nua’man Yousif. He had to serve in Omara province for three years and then to be brought back to Baghdad.” The lady replied.
But again she did not tell me where does he live now? There must be something wrong with this lady, I thought with myself. I looked inside the clinic again hoping to see if my turn is close or I have to wait. The long line of the patients looked the same as I left it.
So it is better to keep listening to this strange woman. “Ok, what happened later?” I asked her anxiously .
She said that her brother fell in love with a daughter of a tribal leader in Omara and wanted to marry her. Her father “ The sheikh” agreed to marry his daughter to her brother for his good fame there but he put a condition that her brother must convert to Islam.
“ I went there with my parents and uncles to ask the hand of the Sheikh’s daughter. After few years the marriage resulted two kids, boy and a girl but my brother decided to leave the country to go to England to finish his studies.” She said.
“When was that?” I asked her. She answered me that it was in 1993 and he had to make a fake passport because at that time doctors were not allowed to leave the country.
After paying two million Iraqi Dinners, the doctor was captured on the borders with Jordan and brought back to Baghdad but to stay in prison.
“ We did not leave any chance that might lead us to where he was kept, but all our efforts went in vein, we decided to go to Tareq Aziz, who was the Deputy Premier at that time and Christian to ask his help.” she said
The family discovered that the doctor was kept in Mukhabart Directorate in Mansour district in Baghdad and he got life sentence.
With the help of Tareq Aziz, the family told that the doctor would be released at the 27th of June, 1993.
“ We could not sleep that night as we were celebrating the release of the doctor.” The lady said with glittering eyes as if her brother was going to be released now.
Early in the morning, the entire family went to Mansour to receive the doctor but it seemed they did not listen to news early in the morning at that day.
Iraqi Radio station and T.V declared that Mukhabart directorate was bombed at 1:30 am, June 27th by US warplanes and lot of people killed and wounded, in addition to the damage of many houses.
“ We did not hear these news because we left early, but the shock when we reached the place to find ruins only.” The lady concluded with a big sigh.
There was intelligence information that Mukhabart Directorate would be attacked after rumors of Iraqi Mukhabarat’s scheme to assassinate president Bush, the father, during a visit he paid to Kuwait at that time.
Orders issued to all the staffers of the directorate to leave the place as a precaution but the prisoners were left there, one of them was Dr.Nua’man Yousif.
This story helped me to forget somehow the pain caused by the dentist while he was dealing with my tooth and kept thinking how luck can play such a big role in fates of people.
It is true that there are lucky and unlucky people.
I was asked by a journalist I was working with to get a CD about Falluja Mujahdien ran on BBC. I did not say “ Yes” or “ No” but promised to do my best to find it.
But how? I did not know, at the same day, I went in the afternoon to set up an appointment with a lawyer. When I got down of the lawyer office, a man came and said
“ Hello” to me.
He told me that he knows Iam a journalist because he had seen me talking with people on many occasions.
He looked at me and said, “ can you wait for few minutes, I will bring something useful for you.” I nodded to him and stood aside to wait and see what he would show me.
After few minutes, the man arrived with a bag, he put it in my hand and disappeared.
I was so curious to see what he got for me. It was a CD. I ran to a CD machine to see what inside that CD.
For my surprise and great joy, It was the same CD ran by BBC about Falluja Mujahdien.
Like all the Iraqis, the main subject was about the horrible deterioration in the security situation and how killing is maintaining everybody.
The lady looked at me and said “ Iam not scared of killing, in fact Iam waiting for.”
For short while, I thought with myself whether that lady was sane or mad or may be she said that because of the toothache she had, but why she wanted to die? I kept asking myself.
“ People are thinking of leaving the country to escape killing and you want to die?.” I asked her just to push her to speak.
The lady said “ I want to leave too to see my brother.” I asked her” Where does he live?”
“ My brother is Dr.Nua’man Yousif. He had to serve in Omara province for three years and then to be brought back to Baghdad.” The lady replied.
But again she did not tell me where does he live now? There must be something wrong with this lady, I thought with myself. I looked inside the clinic again hoping to see if my turn is close or I have to wait. The long line of the patients looked the same as I left it.
So it is better to keep listening to this strange woman. “Ok, what happened later?” I asked her anxiously .
She said that her brother fell in love with a daughter of a tribal leader in Omara and wanted to marry her. Her father “ The sheikh” agreed to marry his daughter to her brother for his good fame there but he put a condition that her brother must convert to Islam.
“ I went there with my parents and uncles to ask the hand of the Sheikh’s daughter. After few years the marriage resulted two kids, boy and a girl but my brother decided to leave the country to go to England to finish his studies.” She said.
“When was that?” I asked her. She answered me that it was in 1993 and he had to make a fake passport because at that time doctors were not allowed to leave the country.
After paying two million Iraqi Dinners, the doctor was captured on the borders with Jordan and brought back to Baghdad but to stay in prison.
“ We did not leave any chance that might lead us to where he was kept, but all our efforts went in vein, we decided to go to Tareq Aziz, who was the Deputy Premier at that time and Christian to ask his help.” she said
The family discovered that the doctor was kept in Mukhabart Directorate in Mansour district in Baghdad and he got life sentence.
With the help of Tareq Aziz, the family told that the doctor would be released at the 27th of June, 1993.
“ We could not sleep that night as we were celebrating the release of the doctor.” The lady said with glittering eyes as if her brother was going to be released now.
Early in the morning, the entire family went to Mansour to receive the doctor but it seemed they did not listen to news early in the morning at that day.
Iraqi Radio station and T.V declared that Mukhabart directorate was bombed at 1:30 am, June 27th by US warplanes and lot of people killed and wounded, in addition to the damage of many houses.
“ We did not hear these news because we left early, but the shock when we reached the place to find ruins only.” The lady concluded with a big sigh.
There was intelligence information that Mukhabart Directorate would be attacked after rumors of Iraqi Mukhabarat’s scheme to assassinate president Bush, the father, during a visit he paid to Kuwait at that time.
Orders issued to all the staffers of the directorate to leave the place as a precaution but the prisoners were left there, one of them was Dr.Nua’man Yousif.
This story helped me to forget somehow the pain caused by the dentist while he was dealing with my tooth and kept thinking how luck can play such a big role in fates of people.
It is true that there are lucky and unlucky people.
I was asked by a journalist I was working with to get a CD about Falluja Mujahdien ran on BBC. I did not say “ Yes” or “ No” but promised to do my best to find it.
But how? I did not know, at the same day, I went in the afternoon to set up an appointment with a lawyer. When I got down of the lawyer office, a man came and said
“ Hello” to me.
He told me that he knows Iam a journalist because he had seen me talking with people on many occasions.
He looked at me and said, “ can you wait for few minutes, I will bring something useful for you.” I nodded to him and stood aside to wait and see what he would show me.
After few minutes, the man arrived with a bag, he put it in my hand and disappeared.
I was so curious to see what he got for me. It was a CD. I ran to a CD machine to see what inside that CD.
For my surprise and great joy, It was the same CD ran by BBC about Falluja Mujahdien.
posted by Ishtar at 1:52 AM
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