In Najaf, Even Scratching Out a Living Is Risky

[Barrett808]

In Najaf, Even Scratching Out a Living Is Risky
Sun Aug 22, 7:00 AM ET
By Michael Georgy

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Braving mortars and gunfire under the blistering sun in Najaf, Khudeir Salman was determined to feed his family, slowly navigating a rickety donkey cart past the front lines in the hope of selling blocks of ice.

But the Iraqi concluded that his daily grind that fetches the equivalent of 75 U.S. cents a block had become too risky when he stumbled upon someone in the same business lying dead with a sniper's bullet on Sunday.

"I found him this morning. The sniper shot the donkey too. Even the ambulance drivers are too scared to retrieve the body," said Salman, a short dark man with rotten teeth.

"My business was almost wiped out but I have 15 children, including those of my dead brother who was killed by Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). Now I am scared to go out and sell what I can."

More than two weeks of fighting between radical Shi'ite militants and U.S. forces has cost more than just lives in Najaf, a city that is sacred to millions of Shi'ites around the world.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040822/ts_nm/iraq_najaf_poverty_dc_1

[Moderator]

1. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=768436