Diary of Saad Eskander

Het Archiefforum | co-blog zal regelmatig de dagboekaantekeningen van Saad Eskander verspreiden. Waarom? -: omdat het maakt dat 'beelden van alledag' - lees beelden via TV - weer lading krijgen. De lading die ze nodig hebben; een stuk bewustwording dat dit een realiteit is die daadwerkelijk wordt 'beleefd'.

Diary for the period 22-31 January 2007

On Monday, 100 innocent people were slaughtered by two car bombs in Baghdad. Another librarian, who works at the Periodical Department, received a death threat. He has to leave his house and look for another one, as soon as he can; otherwise, he will be murdered. B, an account and part time student, was absent. I was informed later that day that her family was forced to leave their house in Al-Jihad area and looking for a house in another area.
On Tuesday 23 Jan. the staff received their monthly salaries after two days delay.

Since the beginning of the winter season, my staff has never stopped complaining about the sharp rise in the prices of the heating fuel. The prices of the heating fuel are 40 times higher than they were in the autumn. Moreover, the whole country faces acute shortage of fuel.

At 11.30 a.m., intensive exchange of fire in the al-Fadhil area. Most of the roads were closed. Our guards were re-deployed. One window was smashed as a result of the explosions. I was informed on the same day that two of our technicians were kidnapped by unknown armed men in Al-Ghazaliya area. Fortunately, both were realised unharmed, thought they were verbally abused. Mr. C, the head of the Restoration Laboratory, received a death threat. He and his family left their house. I visited the Restoration Laboratory. It was hit by 5 bullets. Two windows were broken as a result. One of the restorers told me that her brother was murdered ten days a go for sectarian reasons. Another restorer told me that he cousin, who lived in Mosul, in northern Iraq, was also murdered for sectarian reasons. I did not know about these two incidents. I discovered that a number of my staff do not inform the administration about their ordeals for fear of reprisals.
I received more bad news about Miss D, an accountant. Her father and brother were both injured after the terrorists opened fire on them. The reason for it D 's father and brothers refused to leave their house, after they received a death threat.

For two days an expert was working very hard to restore our internet system. She fail in the end. She promised to return on Thursday to repair the damage.

The fighting broke our again in the Haifa Street and the Fadhel area. US helicopters were making a lot of noises between 11.45 a.m. and 13.00 p.m. They flew very low over our building. I asked my staff to evacuate the building very quickly.

Many roads and bridges were blocked on Wednesday, 24 Jan. The National Guards continued its blockade of the Haifa Street. Around 9.30 a.m. the fighting started again and intensified by the passage of time. US Helicopters were in the sky, flying very low. A colleague of mine, who works as a director general in the Ministry of Culture, dropped in. He said that he was not able to go his office, because all the roads were blocked. The fighting in the Haifa Street has forced the Ministry to close several times.

Around 12.00 US planes started to bomb the position of the terrorists in the Haifa Street. The heads of the departments asked if close the NLA . I told them that they should wait more and that we would evacuate the building in the right moment. In the meantime, I received a call from my friend Marco, who works with an Italian NGO, Un Ponte Per. This organization is based in Rome, and has played a notable part in the reconstruction of the NLA. Marco asked me if I and my staff were fine. I said that another member of staff was murdered; then I asked him if heard the noise of the US helicopters, which were firing at the Haifa Street at the time. He said that heard it very clearly and asked me if the staff were still working. I replied: "yes we are working under such conditions for weeks". The line went dead, before we could finish our conversation. At 13.00 I decided to evacuate the building. I thought a mortar bomb exploded in the opposite building, which now serves as the base for one of the National Guards' infantry brigades. I learnt later that the big explosion was caused by the shouting down of a US helicopter in the Haifa Street. After the evacuation, the fighting was intensified and that all the National Guards imposed a curfew on al-Bab al-Mudham area.

In the early morning of Thursday, 25 Jan. I heard a series of explosions. Some were very close to our street. On my way to the NLA, I saw a group of people gathered around unknown body. It was covered with a piece of fabric.

I was informed around 9.30 a.m. that Mr. E, the supervisor of the Baghdad memory Project, lost his young son in a bomb blast. He son was a law student in his third year.

On Friday and Saturday, 26-27 Jan., I spent most of my time writing a new essay or with my close friends. Marco rang me from Rome to tell me that a conference would be held in the city of Florence on next Tuesday, and that he wanted me address it. I agreed to talk about the impact of violence on my staff, the reconstruction of the NLA, and its future projects.

Sunday, 28 Jan. was relatively quite in our area. There was no fighting in the Haifa Street. But the National Guards was still blocking most of the roads in the neighbouring areas. Most of the employees of the Ministry of Culture were unable to go to work. Other districts of Baghdad witnessed as usual more violence, e.g. car bombs, booby-traps, kidnapping and random killings. A friend of mine was kidnapped by unknown group. I met Ahmed’s uncle in my office. I raised the pension issue, asking the uncle to provide me with all the necessary papers so that we could start the application for Ahmed’s pension. The Uncle provided with some details concerning the night in which Ahmed was murdered. He told me that the killers ransacked the house.

Monday, 29 Jan., was also relatively quite day for NLA. Yet, the vast majority of the staff could come to work, because of military check-points and blockade that was imposed on several districts within Baghdad. A bomb exploded inside a car near the University of Mustanseriya, killing some innocent passengers and pedestrians.

Tuesday, 30 Jan, was a public holiday. It was the 10th of Muharram. Every year, the Shi'is commemorate this day. As expected, several districts in Baghdad were shelled by mortars and car bombs exploded killing innocent people.

Marco rang me around 12.00, asking me if I was ready to talk to the conference by phone for 15 minutes. Around 13.00 I addressed the conference, talking about the state of the NLA and the impact of the violence on its staff. I thanked the Italians for generosity in helping us safeguard our cultural heritage, in the period that followed the downfall of the Saddam regime.

On Wednesday, 31 Jan., a huge explosion shock our building. I hurriedly went to the second floor and saw a thick black smock rising from a car in al-Bab al-Mudham round-about (200 meters away from the NLA). I asked the security to prevent all members of staff from going outside the building, fearing that there might be another car-bomb. I learnt later that around 15 people were either killed or injured in the explosion. Among the victims were shoppers, passengers and drivers.