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Iraqis baffled as countdown begins to turn in firearms
Jordan Times, 6/2/03
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Coalition commanders opened weapons collection points around Iraq on Sunday as they began a two-week countdown to the imposition of new firearms controls in a bid to stem postwar lawlessness.
But by midday none of the designated police stations visited by AFP correspondents reported even a single weapon had been turned in.
Many Iraqis said they were baffled by the policy and would be unwilling to give up their treasured weapons despite the pending ban.
“Why should anyone want to just give away their weapon when they can sell it for good money?” said Arkan Al Zebaki, waving a 1950s vintage Webley and Scott pistol at Baghdad's open-air arms market.
“In any case why would any self-respecting Iraqi want to turn in their weapon to an American, particularly at a police station?”
For the past three days, coalition radio has broadcast appeals to Iraqis to turn in the huge arsenal of military hardware that has passed into civilian hands since the collapse of Iraq's armed forces.
“We have also been using the loudspeakers that our psychological operations teams have. Flyers in Arabic will be posted around the city,” a coalition military spokesman said.
The new regulations that come into force on June 15 will not require Iraqis to completely abandon their love affair with the Kalashnikov.
They will be allowed to retain pistols, shotguns and rifles up to 7.62mm, the calibre of the famed Russian firearm, for self-defence, provided they do not take them out of their homes and businesses.
Anyone wanting to carry arms on the street will need a special permit from the occupation administration which has laid down detailed procedures for weapons surrenders to prevent coalition troops mistaking them for armed attacks.
Those wanting to hand in weapons are supposed to obtain a clear plastic bag from a collection point, take it home and place the disassembled firearm inside.
“We think it is going to be a successful policy because of the good Iraqi citizens who want to see law and order restored,” the military spokesman said.
But at the arms market, which continues an underground existence despite repeated raids by US troops, buyers and sellers alike said they rejected the coalition policy.
“For us a weapon is a badge of honour,” said arms dealer Abbas Fadhel. “Even Saddam didn't dare to take away our weapons. In fact he used to give people rifles or shotguns as a present on big state occasions.”
Fadhel has only pistols and ammunition on display for fear of another US raid or a robbery in the ultra-lawless looters' market.
But he said he has mortars for $75 and rocket-propelled grenades for $100 in his home just 10 minutes away.
Among the customers there seems to be little understanding of the new weapons policy, despite the publicity campaign. Many are convinced the occupation administration is determined to ban all weapons and leave Iraqis defenceless.
“The Americans are doing this because they are afraid of the Iraqi people, they just want to leave us without any protection,” said one, giving his name as Mohammad Mohammad. Another arms dealer, Faris Mohammad, said it was too early to impose the weapons crackdown.
“I'm only selling weapons here because I lost my job when they abolished the defence ministry.”
“It's the same for most of us here, and it's also true of the hoodlums who create the fear on the streets that we all feed off.”
“If the Americans could give people jobs, then the problem would right itself.”
Even Abbas Hussein, who shows off two bullet wounds in his right foot, the legacy of a robbery on Friday evening in which he lost $25, said he had no intention of looking to the Americans for security.
“If I need protection, I'll go buy a gun,” he said. “We can't expect foreigners to save us from other Iraqis.”
For Ali Mahsen there is only one way to control the gangs who operate out of squats in bombed-out buildings across the city — “Bring back Saddam's state security people.”
“Saddam never needed to take our guns away, he knew how to maintain law and order.”
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |