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U.S.
To Evict Homeless Iraqis From Public Buildings
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Iraqi
families have no where to go if Americans force them out of public
buildings
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BAGHDAD,
May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S.-led occupation
forces decided to evict Iraqis, driven homeless by the Anglo-American
bombardment of their country, including residential areas, from public
buildings they have been taking shelter in.
"Coalition
forces want to take back and rebuild all public buildings," the
occupation authority announced via an Arabic-language radio broadcast,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Homeless
and jobless Iraqis, who have taken over the abandoned governmental
buildings following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, stand helpless before
the U.S. orders and do not know where to go.
Asked
about the American decision to boot them from public buildings, Gharib
Hassan answered "I am defenseless and so I will leave if they force
me. But what would they do in this place? There's only nightmares and
ghosts.
"I
have 10 children, and since I've been married I've never been able to
offer a roof over the heads of my family," he lamented.
In
the wake of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, homeless Iraqi families annexed
Iraqi government buildings, including prisons and military camps, and reshaped
them into residential areas after the U.S.-led air strikes had razed their
houses to the ground.
Al-Rasheed
military camp is now rife with signs reading: “family apartment” and
“please, do not disturb.”
Mortada
al-Rabei and his family told IslamOnline.net correspondent they had to
reside in the onetime camp because they could not afford renting a flat
in Baghdad as prices skyrocketed after the end of the U.S.-led war on
Iraq.
“Getting
a job under such hard times is a far-fetched dream…We cannot afford
flat rentals, so we have settled here until life is back to normal in
Iraq,” Rabei said.
Abu
Gharb military camp has completely changed into a residential area with
“family apartment” emblazoned on every door.
Likewise,
children were playing football in the lawn of Baghdad University
Agriculture College’s Ibn Rushd chemical laboratory, while their
families appeared to take fixed abode in the lab’s premises.
“There
are some 27 families residing here…we have not anyplace to go,” some
children told IOL.
“The
U.S.-led air strikes left many Iraqi families homeless,” said
14-year-old Abdul Latif.
‘We
Will Move’
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"We
made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans
asked us to leave," Chalabi said
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The
new American decision will not only affect homeless Iraqis but also the
fledgling parties in the war-ravaged country.
Outlawed
during Saddam's 24-year reign, political groupings have flourished and
they have been looking for headquarters.
Mohammed
Baqer al-Hakim's Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution
in Iraq (SAIRI) has taken over the defense ministry.
The
Communist Workers Party uses a bank in central Baghdad as its base.
"The
owner of the building thanked us for our presence because it stopped all
the destruction and the Americans also sanctioned it. If they change
their minds, we'll move," said party member Sabah Hussein.
Even
the strongest parties have taken over the best spots: the
Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) of Ahmed Chalabi is
installed in the summer quarters of the Hunting Club with several
branches around town, including at the former passports department.
Chalabi
too said that the Hunting Club's owners had been grateful for the
protection from looting which his party's presence had provided.
"We
made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans asked
us to leave and in fact they didn't ask," the INC leader told a
news conference Tuesday.
He
said the club, which used to be a favorite haunt of Saddam's elder son
Uday, had formed an interim committee which had been purged of
Baathists.
"In
the coming days we are going to hand the club back to this
committee," said Chalabi.
The
"National Iraqi Gathering" of Hassan al-Jabari has moved into
parliament.
While
the Iraqi parliament's main hall was destroyed in the looting that
followed Saddam's ouster under the watchful eyes of the Anglo-American
forces, masons are busy building a house in the garden.
"They
came a month ago and decided to develop the place. I hope they'll find
me a job," said Abbas Abed, squatting on the premises with 22
family members.
"On
April 10, the day after coalition troops arrived in Baghdad, I drove by
the parliament. The U.S. army was about to leave the place, so I
proposed that I keep watch over it. They agreed and I've lived here
since then," Abed said.
The
"New National Iraqi Progressive Party" has taken over a fine
dwelling that used to house the "Peace, Friendship and Solidarity
Association," a haven for all pro-Baath organizations worldwide.
The
"Iraqi Women's Union" has set itself up in the former
conscription center, while the "Movement for Islamic Accord"
has taken over the court house of the upmarket Mansur district and the
"Islamic Organization for Workers" the national ballet school.
The
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani can be found in the
vast engineering building at one of Saddam's former palaces.
Its
rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani, opted
for the headquarters of the Republican Guard.
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