Whew!
But I was afraid to post that "whew: without an article- so here:
Abduction-For-Ransom Flourishes In Baghdad
By Aus Al-Sharqi, IOL Baghdad Correspondent
BAGHDAD, September 15 (IslamOnline.net) - Under deteriorating security conditions in the capital of war-ravaged Iraq, abducting renowned and wealthy physicians and businessmen and their children for ransoms that may amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars have become a “lucrative business”.
Such crimes were unfamiliar in the Iraqi community under the deposed president Saddam Hussein’s regime. Yet, they currently occur in broad daylight in front of the U.S. occupation forces that often ignore them, being preoccupied with their own security and worries about the Iraqi resistance attacks.
In an interview with IslamOnline.net Monday, September 15, Loai’s father told the story of his son’s abduction in daylight while walking with him in Al-Talbiya district in Baghdad.
“While I was on my way home with my son Loai, 11, a car with no plate numbers stopped in front of us. I think it is stolen. Inside, there were three persons asking about a certain address,” the father said.
“In a glimpse of an eye, two of the men got off the car, one with a gun while the other took my son to the car. I was dazzled. They threatened to kill him if I told the U.S. forces,” Loai’s father, who refused to be named, added.
“The car went off fast. I shouted for help but in vain. We stayed up the whole night waiting for any piece of news about our son. After three days, we found a message from the abductors at the front door asking for U.S.$ 150.000 in ransom”.
“It seemed they knew I had sold my house for a good price. I paid them the ransom and they returned my son the following morning,” he said.
Saddam’s Fault
Loai’s abduction has not been the first of its kind since the Baghdad occupation and the spread of chaos and lawlessness.
Al-Talibiya police department director brigadier Mahdi Shaye’ pointed that such crimes have widely spread like others due to lack of security stability, following the end of Saddam’s regime.
Shaye’ told IslamOnline.net that the spread of such crimes is due to the mistake committed by Saddam when he released thousands of prisoners who currently commit the worst crimes to fulfill their criminal needs.
The head of the police force said that those criminals formed “gangs to loot, kill, abduct and steal but we will not leave them go unpunished. We’ve managed to arrest many of them and I think that this phenomenon won’t last long.”
Psychological Motives
Explaining the widespread phenomenon in the Iraqi community, Professor of sociology in Baghdad University Abdel-Muttaleb Al-Meshedany told IslamOnline.net that “such crimes are an expression of psychological and retaliatory motives. They often aim to blackmail and are deemed a negative outcome of the occupation.”
Meshedany pointed out that among the most important methods of dealing with such crimes is providing job opportunities for the youth and creating a security body that is well-aware of the most up to date methods of stopping crimes. |
