Jeff Guntzel and Mahasen Nasser-Eldin are in Iraq for National Catholic
Reporter.
Their reports will be posted
to NCRonline.org as they become available. Check the Web site regularly for
updates.
Since 1998, Guntzel has helped coordinate Voices in the Wilderness, a
campaign to end the sanctions against Iraq. He has led seven fact-finding
missions to Iraq.Nasser-Eldin, fluent in English and Arabic, has
traveled to Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness, has studied the Iraqi
educational system for UNICEF and as a researcher for Human Rights Watch studied
the Kurds.
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NCRonline
Iraq Photo Gallery
By Jeff
Guntzel and Mahasen Nasser-Eldin
Photos will be posted here as we receive them from Iraq. Check back for updates.
| May 13, 2003: Pratical Steps to Rebuild
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The Najeen (survivors) Group, an artists collective, has taken over the center of Firdos Square, setting of the much televised toppling of the bronze statue of Saddam Hussein April 9. The Najeen Group is building a sculpture to replace the torn down statue of Saddam Hussein. The sign reads: "The Najeen Group starts its practical steps to build a new Iraqi civilization."
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| May 13, 2003: Defacing Saddam |
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Most of Saddam Hussein's many potraits and statues in Iraq have been defaced or
destroyed. Right, an unexploded RPG lies in front of a destroyed statue in the al-Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad.
Above, a particularily creative celebrant carved devil horns out of
a portrait.
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| May 12, 2003: Former officers march |
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Former Iraqi officers march to demand a role in re-establishing security in Iraq. The signs say things like: "We need to bilt (sic) a new Iraqi military service" and "The situation of family, officers & others is very bad."
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| May 9, 2003: Wavering Optimism
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Chaldean Bishop Emmanuel Deli was alone in his office talking on the telephone when an explosion blew out his office windows and sent him tumbling. It was the first night of the bombing campaign. Read an interview with the bishop posted May 9.
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| May 7, 2003:
Political Parties Proliferate |
A friend took a driving tour around Baghdad and counted 35 new parties. "All you need is five people and you have a party," he told us. Some people worry that the parties have no agendas. Read the full report on May 7. |
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| May 5, 2003:
Public services are in shambles |
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Looters ransacked the Ministry of Health.
The building is pictured above. Patients records were destroyed and left to
the elements (below). A patient's records with the cancer registry (left).
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| May 5, 2003: Gas lines |
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Fuel lines stretch around corners and
over bridges. Some people wait in the relentless sun for six hours to fill
their tanks. |
| May 5, 2003: The
Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Agriculture |
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The Ministry of Oil has been protected by
U.S. armored vehicles and razor wire since the Americans first entered the
city. Behind it, a towering white Ministry of Agriculture building is burned
black. |
| May 2, 2003: A
fateful trip to the market |
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U.S. soldiers fired on Ra'id's
(top left) orange and white Mercedes school bus as it headed for a market.
One passenger was killed and 19-year-old Jihad (top right) was seriously
wounded.
The driver, Jihad and his parents want
to know why they were targets two weeks after the fall of Baghdad.
Read more of the story in Notes from
Iraq No. 3, posted May 2. |
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