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Eye Witness from Iraq

meeting Saturday 10 September at 4.00pm. Sandinos, Derry

Wednesday 7th September 2005

An Iraqi, recently returned from his home town of Mosul, is to address the Derry Anti War Coalition at a public meeting this Saturday (10th September). Dr. Raeid Al-Wazzan, an Iraqi living in Belfast, recently returned from a month long visit to the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq, a city that has been a centre of resistance to the US occupation.

Dr Al Wazzan has been an outspoken critic of what he has described as American attempts to foment sectarian division in Iraq. Shortly after his return from an early visit to his home country, he told the BBC 'it is as if here in Northern Ireland we recruited Catholics to police the Shankill and Protestants to police the Falls, they are trying to stir up divisions between Iraqis."

A spokesperson for the DAWC said: "This meeting provides an excellent opportunity to hear what ordinary people in Iraq are living through under US occupation. Too often in the media, events are boiled down to just an endless parade of bomb attacks by supposed Sunni sectarians trying to provoke civil war, and we are told that the US and British troops are needed to keep the peace.

"However, the anti-war movement has always maintained that there is another side to this story, one that is underreported in the mainstream media. This is the story of an Iraqi people turning against the supposed liberation forces and increasingly fighting back against the occupiers".

The DAWC will use this meeting to publicise an upcoming festival against the war in Shannon on the 24th of this month. The spokesperson added: "Shannon Airport has, despite Bertie Ahern's denials, become crucial to American military operations. Every week, thousands of soldiers and tons of munitions pass through Shannon. It has even been used to transport prisoners to US-controlled torture centres around the world. All this makes a mockery of the South's supposed neutrality and is something that we believe must be protested both North and South.

"We are organising a contingent from Derry to go to Shannon for the festival. It promises to a be an exciting event, not only politically, but also in terms of artistic expression. A march and rally are planned, followed by a day of music, with performances from The Revs, Jimi Cullen, The Chapters and many others".

Dr. Al-Wazzan will be in Derry as part of efforts to promote this. The meeting on Saturday is set for 4 pm and will be held in the upstairs meeting room at Sandinos Bar and Cafe.





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