Residents gather at the scene of a car
bomb attack in Baghdad, March 31, 2007. A car bomb exploded outside a
hospital in a Shi'ite stronghold of Baghdad on Saturday, killing five
people and wounding 22 others, Iraqi police said.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
BAGHDAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Four years after a
statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad's Firdous Square, Iraqis are
still living in chaos where they have to bear daily bombings and sectarian
violence as well as decapitated or tortured bodies.
Layla al-Saigh, a housewife in her thirties, told
Xinhua on Sunday that "I was happy when I saw the fall of Saddam statue four
years ago, but now I realized it was the start of security deterioration."
On April 9, 2003, the U.S. forces broke into central
Baghdad and pulled down a large statue of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in
Firdous Square who was executed last December, raising hopes for many Iraqis
that it would bring a bright future for them.
Four years after the toppling of the statue, Iraqi
people were disappointed as their hopes have become castle in the air.
Abu Samir, a 50-year-old teacher in Baghdad, said he
was happy when Saddam's statue was toppled but now he was filled with nothing
but regret.
"At that moment, I saw the statue as a symbol of
dictatorship and tyranny. Now I want to say the Americans and those who came
with them are much worse than Saddam," Samir said.
Firdous Square is no longer a symbol for dictator of
Iraq. It is now nothing but a square surrounded by police and army checkpoints,
said Muhammad Dafir who was working in the nearby Sheraton Hotel.
Instead of the statue, a monument symbolizing freedom
was set up. But Dafir said most of Baghdad residents know nothing about its
meaning except for some American soldiers who come to take pictures.
"I am really disappointed because I know there is no
freedom without security," he added.
A 24-hour vehicle curfew will be imposed on Baghdad
on Monday at 5 a.m. (0100 GMT), the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam
Hussein's regime, to avoid violence and attacks in the capital which witnesses
persistent violence despite the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi
soldiers in a major security crackdown.
On Sunday, thousands of Iraqis swarmed to the holy
city of Najaf for a big demonstration against the U.S. presence in Iraq on
Monday that was called by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Salam al-Ani, 60, a lawyer, said that "Iraqis are
much more eager for security and stability than ever", complaining that there is
no water, no electricity, no jobs and no future in Iraq.
"From the beginning, I realized that those celebrated
the occupation will not enjoy their happiness for ever, because I know the U.S.
promise of building a new Iraq was only illusion and even a deception which some
Iraqis believed," he added.
More and more Iraqis choose to flee the
violence-plagued country amid miserable living condition and deteriorating
security situation.
About 2 million Iraqis have left Iraq to nearby Arab
countries and Europe since the bombing of the revered Shiite Askariya mosque in
the town of Samarra in February 2006, sparking a wave a sectarian bloodshed that
engulfed the country.
Um Ali, a school teacher who is preparing to join her
husband in neighboring Syria, said four years ago Iraqis abroad were waiting for
the toppling of Saddam statue in a bid to return home as soon as possible, but
more Iraqis were forced to leave now.
"I am leaving Iraq and will stay in Syria for a
while. I will be back when Iraq regains peace no matter how many years it will
take," she said with tears in her eyes.
"We are surrounded with violence and sectarian
division. We lost our hope for peaceful future," she said, describing the life
in the mixed Baiyaa neighborhood in southern Baghdad.
Unlike Ali, some Iraqis believe that the fall of
Saddam's statue was the beginning of a long way of building democracy in Iraq.
"Despite the hardships we are living today after four
years of the fall of Saddam regime, I feel grateful for the Americans who helped
us to get rid of the dictatorship which ruled Iraq brutally for 35 years," said
Haider Saadoun, a college student.
"I still hope with the future and I believe that
building a free nation is a hard task and need sacrifices," the 23-year-old
youth said.
BAGHDAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Six U.S. soldiers were killed and four others wounded in insurgent attacks on Sunday, the U.S. military said.
Three soldiers were killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb hit their patrol in south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. Full story
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