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Iraqi Shi'ites Eager for Post-Hussein Iraq

(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Ron Synovitz - Thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites, who form an estimated 60% of the Iraqi population, have fled Iraq and now live as exiles in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and other parts of the Persian Gulf. Exiled Iraqi Shi'ites in Kuwait welcome the possibility of Hussein's ouster so they can return home and start rebuilding the country. Muhammad Radha al-Ghazwini, 62, said he felt puzzled by the antiwar demonstrations in Europe and the U.S. "We are thankful that people have such sympathy for us as Iraqi people. But we wonder why all these protesters don't know how horrible the situation is for the people in Iraq." He said that if the demonstrators had lived through the same experiences as the Kurds in northern Iraq or the Shi'ites of southern Iraq, they would be demonstrating instead for Hussein's immediate ouster. "It is a wild regime that has killed thousands of people and left behind thousands of orphans and widows," he said.
2003-02-28 00:00:00
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