Tensions surface as aid arrives

Tensions surface as aid arrives

Burhan Wazir
With the British army in southern Iraq

The young man wearing the brown shawl summed it up most succinctly: "We want you to go back home.

The troops have not always had a good reception

"We do not want your American and British aid," he said, his eyes flashing with anger.

If the British Humanitarian Task Force had any doubts as to the legitimacy of his claims, the sudden burst of gunfire from a nearby building left no one in any doubt.

The first attempt to deliver aid to the Iraqi people was, in all respects, a practical and logistical disaster.

A convoy, including two water tankers and as many Warrior armoured vehicles, had set off from the abandoned Shaibah Airfields earlier.

The intent was clear and pure. The delivery of food and water would win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi beleaguered.

As the convoy pulled up inside the town, however, a crowd of predominantly young men ran towards it.

They bomb. And now they want to give water and food. How can they do both?

Jalil Ali

---

Black Watch in aid role

UK aid to reach Iraq

Fights and skirmishes broke out for bottles of water. Iraqis asked for food and cigarettes. And while a cordon was quickly created, hundreds rushed towards the trucks, overpowering soldiers.

"We have no water and no food," said 50-year-old Ali Abdullah. He stood away from the crowd, stroking his beard and surveyed the scene intently as crowds of young men fought of boxes of bottled water.

"For five days now, we have been without electricity. Have you brought some electricity?"

The exercise had been beset with a number of difficulties from the outset. On leaving the nearby Shaibah Airfields - a series of abandoned hangars, runways and outbuildings on the Basra Road - there had been innumerable delays as reports of violence filtered back from al-Zubayr.

Earlier, there had been a delay in confirming security in the town.

Resentment

Inside al-Zubayr, however, the distribution initially began with good nature. Young men joked with each other, smiled and passed around bottles of water.

Within 10 minutes, though, an undercurrent of resentment was evident. The war, the bombing, sanctions and their cumulative toll all rose to the surface.

Jalil Ali, 25, the young Iraqi man standing in wearing the brown shawl, inquired if any of the humanitarian aid was being provided by Americans.

Trucks have been carrying water into Iraq

"Take it back," he yelled, pretending to push it away. "We want the Americans to go back home. We do not need them here. Go back home. I do not need this."

Around him, his friends, most of them speaking only Arabic, giggled. Around them, people rushed out of earthen buildings and raced down a dual carriageway.

Jalil, however, seemed to realise only too well the irony: "They bomb. And now they want to give water and food. How can they do both? How?" It was then that the gunfire erupted.

Earlier, the soldiers had been optimistic but pensive. After enduring a rainy and windy night in a disused hanger at the Shaibah Airfields, only 15 minutes from the town of Al Zubayr, the convoy had been well-intentioned.

Electricity questions

It was a curious sight: a convoy of much needed humanitarian aid. Aid that betrayed all the hallmarks of an occupying force, but aid nonetheless.

The Iraqis, while initially jubilant, were quickly sceptical. "I need electricity," said Moyed Abdullah, 33. "I need to power my house. See the electricity lines? They are not working; they have not been working for days. Do you bring any electricity?"

Around him, British and American soldiers struggled to control the crowds. Time and time again, the Iraqis were pushed back, always, they seemed to slip in under the makeshift rope-line.

After a while, it seemed, it was better simply to stand back and wait for the inevitable to happen.

The burst of gunfire from across the road finally extinguished all attempts to supply the aid.

As soldiers leapt into the jeeps, a Warrior turned round and took out the position the gunfire had emanated from. And with daylight fast fading, the Humanitarian Task Force decided to speed back to its base at Shaibah Airfields.

On Thursday, they will undoubtedly try again to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi civilians. And again, one presumes, they will encounter yet more resentment.

This is pooled copy from Burhan Wazir of The Guardian, embedded with the British army in southern Iraq.