[ Monday, July 28, 2003 ]
ESCAPE FROM IRAQ!
BAGHDAD, July 27 - U.S. soldiers in Iraq are escaping from Iraq under the guise of Kurdish citizens, wearing the famous Iraqi and Arab al-Dashdasha (loose headdress) which has become mush sought-after recently, Iraqis told IslamOnline.net Sunday, July 27.
However, a U.S. colonel categorically denied that 2,500 U.S. soldiers have escaped from duty so far, noting that it was a rumor propagated by the Baathists and the loyalists to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Saeed al-Aidany, a galabia (gown) seller, said, "We were surprised at the very beginning to see a lot of U.S. soldiers buying al-Dashdasha, but it came to our knowledge that they used it as a camouflage to make their escape to Gulf states".
Aidany further claimed that U.S. soldiers were also seen buying Kurdish costumes to make their way to Turkey through northern Iraq.
Abdul Amir al-Hasnawi, a truck driver, alleged he helped two U.S. soldiers escape to Kuwait.
"Two Black U.S. soldiers arrived in Basra through a Christian go-between from Baghdad, who used to work as a translator with the Americans. They were in jeans and I smuggled them to Kuwait in return for $450 each," Hasnawi told IOL.
"The go-between told me that the two soldiers did not to be gunned down in Iraq without a cause," he added.
Kazem al-Badri, a taxi driver, claimed that cab and truck drivers nowadays are testing the pulse of search themselves or through go-betweens for U.S. soldiers who want to escape from the war-scarred country in return for bucks.
"It is not a rumor or an Iraqi propaganda but it is a fact, because I myself know a lot of drivers who helped U.S. soldiers escape from Iraq," Badri insisted, adding that smuggling rates hit first a mind-boggling $5,000 for each soldier but were not put down to $500.
art [6:56 PM]
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