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‘Human shields’ in Iraq fear backaches, not US bombs

By Nayla Razzouk

BAGHDAD: Foreign volunteers woke up Saturday with backaches but more resolute after spending their first night as “human shields” in Iraq to protect civilian sites against attack in the event of a US-led war.

“Except for the backache, all is fine. The first night was a successful operation,” said Turk Murad Kalayci with a grin as he pressed his hands to his lower back.

“Me and an Italian human shield were forced to sleep on small armchairs because of a shortage of beds. But even those who had beds had a rough night,” he said, adding promptly that “this can only make us stronger.”

Kalayci, who on a regular day is a cook at a five-star hotel on the sandy beaches of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, was among 18 “human shields” who slept at the April Seven water plant north of Baghdad.

It was the first deployment of “human shields” at key civilian installations, which many fear will be the first target of military strikes in the event of a US-led war against the regime of President Saddam Hussein. The “human shields” are a growing battalion of mostly Western volunteers who have pledged to protect civilian sites in Iraq by merely being there and forcing their governments to kill their own citizens in case of war.

Seven months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, US-led allied forces launched the Gulf War during which they hit infrastructure sites across Iraq, gravely undermining the living conditions of the civilian population.

Last month, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz invited human shields from around the world to group around food warehouses, oil refineries, electricity installations and water plants. “We are here because we think any war on Iraq is a crime and we are here to stay,” said Kalayci.

Hashim Hassan, director of the water purification and distribution plant, said bombing the installation would be a disaster for over a million residents of the Iraqi capital. The room where the volunteers spent the night is located at the administrative building of the water plant, named after the April 7, 1947 creation of Saddam Hussein’s ruling Baath party. On Saturday morning, the room was clean and empty. No trace of any human shield.

“The human shields left very early this morning. I suppose they went back to their hotel,” explained the plant director.

“They were only supposed to stay here for one night as a test for the future. It was just a symbolic gesture and a test for logistics,” he said.

The human shields who spent the night there came from Finland, Italy, Spain and Sweden, as well as Turkey, and carried the bare minimum in their backpacks. “They brought their food with them,” said Hassan. “Being in a water plant, we offered them water.”

Before leaving the site, the human shields posted a sign at the door of the administrative building: “Bombing this site is a war crime. No to aggression against Iraq.”

“We were very happy to receive them, it is really very generous of them to do all what they are doing,” said water plant employee Hussein Ali. “We spent a very nice evening with them,” said Ali before disclosing with a timid smile: “They danced outside to the music from one of their cars.” Another group of 15 human shields from Algeria, Britain, Finland, Russia, South Africa, Syria and Turkey were expected to move into the Baghdad South power station on Sunday. —AFP

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