IRAQ: SCORES OF IRAQI MEN SIGN UP WITH FREE IRAQI FORCES (FIF) WHILST SHOPKEEPERS BRICKED UP THEIR SHOPS TO PREVENT LOOTING
Record ID:
647398
IRAQ: SCORES OF IRAQI MEN SIGN UP WITH FREE IRAQI FORCES (FIF) WHILST SHOPKEEPERS BRICKED UP THEIR SHOPS TO PREVENT LOOTING
- Title: IRAQ: SCORES OF IRAQI MEN SIGN UP WITH FREE IRAQI FORCES (FIF) WHILST SHOPKEEPERS BRICKED UP THEIR SHOPS TO PREVENT LOOTING
- Date: 26th April 2003
- Summary: (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (APRIL 24, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SMV TRAFFIC IN STREET 0.07 2. MV IRAQI WITH APPLICATION FORM TO JOIN FREE IRAQI FORCES (FIF); SCU IRAQI GIVING MONEY FOR FORMS; MV IRAQI BUYING THE FORM (3 SHOTS) 0.30 3. MV IRAQIS FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION FORMS; SCU MAN FILLING OUT THE FORM ON CAR BONNET (3 SHOTS) 0.50 4. SCU QUESTIONS ON FORM INCLUDING 'PREVIOUS INVOLVEMENT WITH BA'ATH PARTY'; MV IRAQIS BUYING FORMS (3 SHOTS) 1.10 5. SLV SHOPKEEPERS ERECTING A WALL IN FRONT OF SHOP; MV BUILDERS ERECTING THE WALL (5 SHOTS) 1.42 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED SULEYMAN, SHOPKEEPER, SAYING "Saddam is responsible for the looting, he is the one who made them do this, when he sent the army to Kuwait he told the soldiers to take everything and they did and they are doing the same here. And the Americans don't care, they don't patrol for us, they only patrol areas they want for themselves." 2.17 7. SCU/SLV BUILDING (3 SHOTS) 2.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th May 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA56E0YA8A5ZF185TKW0FLAQK19
- Story Text: Scores of Iraqi men have signed up with the Free Iraqi
Forces (FIF) in Baghdad whilst shopkeepers bricked up their
shops to stop further looting.
Iraqi men of all ages gathered in central Baghdad on
Thursday (April 24, 2003) to join the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF).
After paying a small fee for the application forms they
filled out questionnaires about their previous jobs which
asked them if the applicants had any previous involvement with
deposed president Saddam Hussein's ruling Ba'ath party.
Some of the existing self-styled "Free Iraqi Forces"
have been trained, uniformed and brought to Iraq by the U.S.
military to help U.S. troops.
They are the military wing of the U.S.-backed Iraqi
National Congress (INC) led by one of Iraq's opposition
leaders, former banker and Pentagon favourite Ahmed Chalabi,
an exile who enjoys strong support from the Pentagon.
Chalabi is thought to have little support inside the
country.
One goal of the Free Iraqi Forces is to find and arrest
leaders of Hussein's Ba'ath Party.
The FIF say they will help provide security, power and
water to Baghdad's 5-million residents. In the chaotic
aftermath of war, Iraqis are more worried about their daily
lives than they are about the makeup of a future government.
Looters are still roaming Baghdad and in some parts of the
city shop keepers are building brick walls in front of their
shops to prevent thieves from stealing their goods and
destroying their property.
"Saddam is responsible for the looting, he is the one who
made them do this, when he sent the army to Kuwait he told the
soldiers to take everything and they did and they are doing
the same here. And the Americans don't care, they don't patrol
for us, they only patrol areas they want for themselves," said
Mohammed Suleyman, a Baghdad shopkeeper.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None