AS-SAYLIYAH, Qatar, 17 December 2002 — Corporal Ali Sheppard had special reason to relish his posting to the Gulf as part of the US military buildup against Iraq — the sole Muslim among some 1,000 British and US troops in training here, he has always dreamed of making the pilgrimage to Makkah.
The 22-year-old was sent to this tiny emirate across the Arabian peninsula from the Muslim holy places as part of Operation Internal Look — a weeklong command exercise designed to test headquarters capabilities for any military action against Iraq.
But he expects still to be here at this Qatari army base when the annual pilgrimage season arrives in February, and says he has the support of his commanders to go on the Haj with a suitable escort — war permitting. The young American will not even have to pay his travel expenses — a Qatari agency has volunteered to cover the costs after reading about him in a Doha newspaper.
Sheppard says he takes his religion very seriously — he brought an English-language translation of the Qur’an with him to the Gulf and he says he can recite some of the verses in Arabic. He joins Qatari soldiers for the five daily prayers and has opted for an arranged marriage.
“I have met her father but I haven’t seen her,” he says of his fiancée Fajr, or Dawn.
“But I hear good things about her. She wears the veil and is God-fearing. I hope we’ll get married soon.”
The young GI acknowledges that the idea of going to war against a Muslim country sometimes bothers him but says he believes “very strongly” that God will steer him away from any wrongdoing.
Sheppard admits that since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, he has had to field a lot of questions, even from his commanding officers. “They asked me a few questions but their treatment of me hasn’t changed since,” he says.
As for his fellow GIs, “they ask me lots of questions about fasting and polygamy and when I try to explain, they find it hard to understand. “But when they ask me about the links between Islam and terrorism, I just read them verses from the Qur’an which preach tolerance and moderation.” (AFP)
