| |
Arrest raises fears in Saddam's
tribe
By Ferry Biedermann
OUJA, near Tikrit - Sheikh Mahmoud Nidda, who
heads Saddam Hussein's al-Nasseri tribe, has reasons to
be upset. United States forces make his life difficult
because he is a relative of the deposed leader. And now,
Saddam himself is no longer a source of pride and
prestige. He has become reason for embarrassment.
"We are a tribe of brave men," the sheikh, 60,
asserts in his large reception hall in Ouja, the village
near Tikrit where Saddam was born. "Saddam should have
fought. He should have killed a couple of American
soldiers and then he should have let them kill him, just
like his sons Uday and Qusay did."
In Iraq, as
indeed in the wider Arab world, people are shocked by
the meek surrender of the once feared leader. "Maybe the
people who took him his food drugged him," the sheikh
speculates. But he acknowledges he is disappointed.
To Sheikh Mahmoud, that kind of surrender is a
personal affront. It may also have repercussions for his
tribe. When the deposed dictator stands trial, the role
that his family played may come out. "It is obvious that
the tribe profited from its connection with the leader
of the country," he says. The sheikh lives in a palatial
villa on the edge of Ouja. The house and the reception
hall exude power and money.
But the connection
was a mixed blessing, he says. Many people think
tensions arose within the tribe from its closeness to
Saddam. One instance is the feud involving Saddam's
son-in-law Hussein Kamel, who was killed after he
returned to Iraq in 1996. He had earlier departed from
Iraq carrying crates of secret documents on Iraq's past
weapons programs. The sheikh does not want to dwell on
those dark passages in the history of the tribe. But he
does say that things were not all rosy.
"Saddam
Hussein took young men from the tribe and used them in
his personal security," he says. "That did not mean a
lot of money or power, but it does mean that we are
hated by many people in the country." The al-Nasseri
tribe is said to have more than 350,000 young men,
making it a powerful group. Ouja has a population of
some 25,000.
The sheikh says that he is a
monarchist, rather than a Ba'ath member like Saddam. He
emphasizes his political differences with the arrested
leader. In the early 1990s he was forced out of his
position, and Saddam appointed someone else head of the
tribe, he says. "He is now dead. He was killed two
months ago." The sheikh does not elaborate.
Despite such differences, he says that no one
from his own tribe would have betrayed Saddam, on whose
head there was a US$25 million reward. "In Iraq family
ties are more important than political differences," he
says. The sheikh points out that Saddam was caught in
Durra village just south of Ouja. "We did not even know
where he was."
Many people in Ouja still support
Saddam, but the sheikh hopes violence will now end.
"Saddam Hussein has been arrested, why should people
fight on for him?" Even so, US forces have maintained a
close watch on Ouja. A month ago they ringed the village
with barbed wire. Visitors need permission to enter, and
everybody is checked on arrival and departure. This has
meant that the sheikh's large reception hall is mostly
empty these days. "I have farms, and people would come
to me with their problems or just to report. Now that is
impossible."
Sheikh Mahmoud believes that the US
forces did this to search for Saddam. But just days
after the arrest, the ring is tighter than ever. "If
Saddam Hussein had ever put barbed wire around this
village, we would have fought him," the sheikh says
angrily.
At the Salah-Eddin governorate building
in nearby Tikrit, Major Derek Jordan says that the
troops have reason to be wary of Ouja. "We had some
demonstrations there since the arrest of Saddam
Hussein," he says. Jordan, an officer with the 418th
Civil Affairs Battalion, was surprised by the adverse
reactions after news of the arrest. "I had expected much
more of a celebratory mood," he says. The Iraqis are not
used to their newfound freedom to express opinions
peacefully, he says.
Remarkably, both the major
and the sheikh have very similar evaluations of the
effect that the capture of Saddam Hussein will have. "It
is a first step towards building a free and prosperous
Iraq," says the major. The sheik, too, is hopeful of
better times to come. "We have to leave the past behind
and work for a better future. Saddam Hussein is no
longer important."
(Inter Press Service)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
