A new prison on the Israeli way?!

Recently, the American administration in Iraq has decided to build a new prison.

A security fence to impose a siege on the Sunni A`dhamiyah district in Baghdad, which Washington accuses of terrorism and extremism!

A new prison with no known history precedent except in occupied Palestine when the Israeli decided to isolate the Palestinians because of the same ready charges for all opponents (terrorism!). So, they have built a wall to separate Palestine from the outside world; leading to hunger, destitution, and poverty, moreover routs and roads were cut, and there was no access to other Palestinian territories, in addition to the agricultural crops which had rotted before the harvest time; so there were no import, export, connection, nor communications.

Al A`dhamiyah is the district of the besieged Sunnis:

Al A`dhamiyah which is located north of Baghdad has suffered a continuous drain since the occupation forces stepped the land of Mesopotamia, especially it is considered a Sunni city among many Shiite cities, where it is separated from the Shiite Kazhimiyyah district only by the Tigris river in the west.

Al A`dhamiyah was named after the Great Imam Abu Hanifah An-Nu`man as he was described by the people of the region, therefore many of the landmarks in the city bear the name of Imam Abu Hanifah.

The last show up of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein prior to the occupation of Iraq in Al A`dhamiyah district was not a sufficient reason to make the entire district a target for killing, displacement, and frequent shelling by occupation and its aides, but —unfortunately— this is what is happening there.

After the occupation of the area and the Shiite assumption of power in Baghdad, the occupation released the hand of the Shiite organizations to make the capital of a Shiite majority in order to be the center for a new Shiite state if the division took place. Consequently, the Sunni territories have suffered horrors at the hands of Shiite militias which were known for their bloodshed and different methods of killing the Sunnis.

For example, the Sunni district of (Ath-Thawrah) is now called (As-Sadr) because of the migration of thousands of Shiites from all cities to it and the displacement of the Sunnis to turn the entire area into Shiite. As for Al A`dhamiyah which is a transit route to Kazhimiyah, it has witnessed several security operations which resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.

Among the security issues affecting the people of the area is transforming one of the most important streets (Ash-Shabab street) to an immune military area although it is one of the most important streets in the city where there are the Islamic University, many colleges and schools, and shops, but the Shiite government inserted a security checkpoint, closed the street, and deprived the people to benefit from.

Likewise, the region is witnessing a forced closure of shops in the early hours at night, turning the city into a ghost town, in addition to the material losses for traders and shop owners. As for the district hospital which was known as (An-Numan hospital), it lacks the minimum requirements for helping patients and medical care. Furthermore, the gas station of Al A`dhamiyah, which was a vivid center for the people, was closed which forced the Sunnis to go to the Shiite territories for fuel, but they were subject to killing, looting, torture, and detention.

The real suffering is the operations which the occupying forces are doing constantly, in addition to the killing operations carried out by Shiite militias; as the region has witnessed dozens of U.S. military operations under the pretext of fighting the armed resistance, which is described as (terrorism!).

In spite of that, the city has witnessed heroic operations, not only the armed resistance and protecting civilians from the Shiite police, but even saving the Shiites themselves such as happened in the late of 2005 when hundreds of Shiites fell from Al A'immah bridge which connects Al `Adhamiyah and Al Kazhimiyah during the pushing. The Shiite Badr militias opened fire at masses, which made the Shiite throw themselves into the river. Some Sunnis threw themselves to rescue the Shiite; among them was `Uthman Al `Ibidy who rescued 6 Shiites before they drown because of fatigue and stress.

The incident was not new to the people of the region, who used to welcome the Shiite visitors who were coming to Al Kadhimiya, embodying the spirit of cooperation and brotherhood, but the other side did not respond nicely.

Al A`dhamiyah under U.S. and Shiite bombing

Like other Sunni areas in Iraq, Al A`dhamiya has witnessed dozens of U.S. military operations as well as the Shiite operations which killed hundreds of people in the region.

We cannot count all operations carried out by those authorities against the people of the region, but it is enough to refer to some of them. For instance, the vast military operation that took place in the month of April 2006, during which the Shiite forces besieged the area, imposed a curfew, and killed and arrested hundreds of people in the region under the pretext of defending the security centers.

The military operation came after thousands of people in the region had been harmed because of the armed Shiite militias, which arrested and tortured many of them: Some of them died because of their names, others were killed because of passing by, and some were arrested in their homes, therefore a number of people carried arms to defend the Sunni civilians, which called the intervention of the government forces in hundreds leading to bloody confrontations.

Moreover, the region has witnessed a continuous mortar bombing which were falling day and night on the houses and shops of civilians, which led to killing 6 of them in one of the bombing operations that targeted a popular market, killed more than one family inside their homes, and killed others in their shops, besides the wounded which the poor medical center could not treat. Despite the frequent requests of the people for stopping the shelling and bombing operations, the occupation forces claimed constantly its inability to identify the territories from which the missiles and shells were launched.

Likewise, there was a famous incident accompanied the rescue of the drown Shiite in August 2005, where the Interior Ministry Forces, led by Bayan Jabr Sulagh, the Minister of Interior at that time, arrested several young people of the city, tortured, and killed many of them without any charge or trial; moreover the ministry denied that, but the people considered that a try to sow strife between the Sunnis and Shiites.

As for the last military operation in the region, it began in the fifth of April, during which U.S. forces and the Shiite government launched raids and search operations included many neighborhoods. The last operation came under the pretext that the U.S. base that was set up in the center of the city was a target of four mortars that killed two of them.

During the last operation, shooting took place, U.S. helicopters and air fighters flew over the city, and many civilians were killed, whereas others were wounded, hundreds of cars were damaged, and the American occupation burnt several shops.

Citizens complained about the release of the U.S. forces trained dogs to the citizens where many of them were wounded seriously and were taken to hospitals.

Insulating barrier:

Despite the ongoing military operations, the people of the city maintained their power and courage, and the armed occupation operations continued against the occupation forces and the allied Shiite forces.

The city, which was under the siege could secure the minimum level of protection for its people as well as carrying out offensive operations against the U.S. military base as well as the Shiite police stations in the region, however with the continuation of powerful resistance, the leadership of the occupation thought of building an insulating wall around the city.

The insulating wall, which was announced on Friday, April 20, was going on a week ago, and it is supposed to be finished by the end of the current month.

In case of the completion, Al A`dhamiyah is going to be like a huge prison in which the people are prevented to deal freely with other Iraqi territories, and each time they have to pass by U.S. and Iraqi security checkpoints which will lead to continuous delay, traffic, and the loss of rights.

The new wall will emphasize the sectarian isolation experienced by the people of the area, and may be the beginning of a sectarian division, not only in Iraq but in Baghdad, where the occupation did not succeed to expel the Sunnis who are holding their positions there and betting consistently on the defeat of the U.S. occupation, even if it takes some time.

The U.S. occupation leadership announced that it is trying, through this wall, to protect the Sunni civilians and prevent those whom it called (suicide bombers) from reaching the Shiite territories, which means: It is trying to prevent any sectarian fighting between the two sides (the Sunni and the Shiite) by isolating the entire region and imposing a siege around it.

The occupation started to build a prison to accommodate more than 300 thousand citizens residing in Al A`dhamiyah neighborhood, especially since the Iraqi and U.S. detention centers began teeming with tens of thousands of detainees, so the U.S. administration decided to build a huge prison around them.

U.S. allegations:

Of course, the U.S. occupation will not admit that the insulating wall aims to divide the capital on a sectarian basis, imprisoning the Sunnis behind a huge wall, therefore a number of occupation leaders initiated to announce other motives which forced them to build such a prison.

In order to speak more accurately, Al A`dhamiyah is the only Sunni area which is being strangled geographically in Baghdad, but there are reports about another wall around the Sunni (Durah) district, which was confirmed by "The Wall Street Journal" in its issue on Friday, April 20.

Public relations officer, Sergeant Mike Pryor said in an article published by the U.S. occupation army on Friday: "The wall of Al A`dhamiyah is one of the central parts in the new strategy of the coalition and the Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence."

He added that Al A`dhamiyah became surrounded in the middle of sectarian violence and reprisals."

As for the military spokesman of the occupying forces, Colonel Christopher Garver, he said: "The goal of the security plan is not to divide everything to small areas closed by gates."

Colonel Scott Mclern stressed this saying: The wall will protect the Sunnis who live in Al A`dhamiyah from the Shiite insurgent attacks, and will prevent the Sunni insurgents from launching attacks on Shiite territories!"

After all, the real fact is that the only point which will check the coming and the leaving of the Sunnis of Al A`dhamiyah will be packed by the Iraq's Shiite police starting from the end of the current month!

So, what is the kind of this protection which the occupation is talking about!