US soldiers gave him the nickname "Allen." Once, a wounded Humvee gunner fell onto his lap. Another time, interpreter Ammar Abdul Rasool Abaas gave testimony that helped convict a US sergeant of killing a bound detainee.
For more than two years, Abaas worked alongside US troops. His decision to take the job had nothing to do with pro-US sentiments. He said he needed the money to support his family.
But insurgents branded him a collaborator who should die.
Now Abaas -- who quit his post and fled the main war zone because of the threats -- wants to restart his life in the US. So far, he has made it only as far as Iraq's northern Kurdish region, with a thicket of bureaucracy and uncertainties still ahead.
Abaas' limbo represents the tale of thousands of other Iraqi helpers for Western military forces and groups who seek to leave their war-battered country.
The quandary over how wide to open the door is leaving lawmakers in the West struggling with competing agendas: a sense of moral obligation to the Iraqi aides but worries about a flood of newcomers. The US -- with by far the largest foreign presence in Iraq -- has come under the most direct criticism from rights groups for keeping a tight lid.
Washington originally planned to resettle 7,000 Iraqis this year. It has since been reduced to 2,000 -- with processing time of eight to 10 months.
The House of Representatives proposed a four-year plan in May to accept as many as 60,000 Iraqis who worked for at least a year with US or UN-affiliated groups.
"I have offered everything," said Abaas, a 39-year-old Shiite Muslim who fled with his family to Irbil, where he fixes cars for a living.
Abaas has applied for Iraqi passports for his family of five, including two-year-old twin boys. Then he plans to travel to Syria to apply with the UN refugee agency, which refers cases to US officials.
But Syria -- struggling with more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees -- now demands visas for Iraqis in a move that could severely complicate one of the first steps to securing passage to the West.
Abaas could remain in Iraq and try to push his case with US officials.
But the threats make any trip outside the Kurdish area too much of a risk, he believes.
Soon after Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003, Abaas got a job as a vehicle mechanic with a US contractor in Baghdad's Green Zone. Two men visited Abaas' wife, Samah.
"He's a good guy," they told her, Abaas said. "But we took his photo when he was going to work. Tell him to quit. We'll give him five days. If he doesn't quit, we'll kill him."
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS