Fragment Friday

Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad

The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship

 By Bee Rowlatt and May Witwit

 

01.01.07

The Old Man is dead. 

Dearest friend

Happy New Year to you and all the family. I'm sorry I couldn't write over the past few days because they've been quite extraordinary. we are in a state of shock. You must have heard about the execution. We were awakened by the sound of helicopters flying at low altitude a 5am. We've just been switching from one television channel to another. 

Now that the Old Man is dead, I expect it will get worse. You probably didn't know that the day of his execution was a Moslem feast and greatly honoured by Moslems all over the world. On such a day Moslems butcher or slaughter sheep and cows , or whatever animal may be eaten (not pigs), and distribute the meat to the poor and needy. So the Old Man was butchered in a symbolic way. 

This timing is not in the new government's favour. It changed his image in the eyes of the people from that of a dictator and a brutal killer into a martyr who was sacrificed, and a scapegoat for the occupiers and their collaborators. but to tell you the truth, I was impressed by his unprecedented courage in meeting his death. 

Gunfire is rumbling all over the area. The militias have come to occupy our district again, and the residents have gone out to defend it. The villas in our area are considered a very tasteful meal for the looters, and also for the militias, because many of the residents were well off before the war. Now there are many newcomers, mostly Islmic extremists and I expect a lot of violence to come.

Bee. Please, please, please advise me what I should do. As for Ali, and all the other men in the district who are Sunnis, they are afraid to go out because of the brutal militias and Islamic extremists. So we both have good reason o fear for our lives. We are terrified and have decided we should try to get out and seek asylum. What do we need? The only evidence Ali has is his passport, which has expired and which he can't renew at present. 

By the way, if you do not get emails from me for two months, write to my friend Maysoon. i will forward you her email. She will know what has happened to me. 

Will always love you. 

xxxxxxx May