BAGHDAD, 13 April 2004 — Foreign nationals have never been in so much danger as now, a year after the proclaimed end of war in Iraq.
In the most recent of a spate of kidnappings of Westerners, Iraqi fighters have threatened to burn their three Japanese hostages alive if the Japanese government does not withdraw its troops.
In another case, witnessed by television cameras, a US civilian was whisked away by Iraqis who attacked the military convoy he was traveling with.
He could suffer an even worse fate than that of four US security workers who were ambushed and killed in Fallujah on March 31.
Media around the world showed pictures of their charred remains hanging from a bridge in the city.
The abduction of foreigners like the Japanese can provide leverage for fighters. The dead, like the two Germans who went missing last week, do not make good bargaining tools.
The two, members of an elite counterterrorism unit, were in a vehicle at the back of a convoy when they were shot by rebels after the convoy drove through a resistance checkpoint near Fallujah.
In the past few days, two Palestinians and a Syrian-Canadian have been listed as missing, while seven Chinese nationals were reported kidnapped yesterday.
A British man, abducted in the southern city of Nasiriyah, was released Sunday following negotiations.
Most of the abductions have happened around Fallujah, a city under siege for the past week. In response to the killing of the four US security personnel, the US military began a massive offensive in the Sunni stronghold. Fallujah is close to the main highway between Baghdad and Amman, the most important route out of Iraq. But as the city disintegrated into a war zone, the road became unpassable.
Travelers were forced to make detours through neighboring villages, which are patrolled by rebels touting anti-tank grenades and Kalashnikov rifles. Those unfortunate enough to encounter the insurgents face an uncertain fate.
As the offensive in Fallujah got under way US troops were also turning their attention to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. Demonstrations by his supporters have threatened to turn Shiite areas into battlegrounds as bloody as Fallujah.
It takes just one attack to break the fragile peace in a region, allowing insurgents to take command. Their mistrust of all Westerners runs deep. Foreigners are quickly accused of spying.
Fair-skinned people in jeeps are automatically assumed to be CIA agents. A reporter with the London-based Times newspaper, based in Israel and holding an Israeli visa in his passport, recalls how he managed to talk his way out of a difficult situation.
His captor was convinced he was a member of Mossad — Israel’s intelligence organization. Luckily for the journalist he was taken to the man’s commander who let him go after several hours’ questioning.
Most foreigners see no point in staying in Iraq. A trade fair planned for the beginning of April, the first since the end of war, has been cancelled. There are no business people in Baghdad any more.
