NARRATOR: The girls of Qarmat Ali have started back at school. The classrooms are shabby, the furniture is falling apart, there is no water to clean with and there is no electricity to power the ventilators. It is not because of the war. It is 12-years of UN sanctions and Saddam Hussein's misrule that have set their mark on schools. But, the war has changed life for the students. The large sections on Saddam Hussein, for example, that dominated every school book are now redundant. And they are afraid they are going to have to retake an entire school year - exam papers were burnt during the looting that followed the war.
ILAF ADEL SALEM, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: We need new exam papers, and everything students normally use, like exercise books and school books, and new school books, because we can't use the old ones any more.
NERMIN ABDEL HUSSEIN HASSAN, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: There is no security. Girls are being kidnapped off the street. So now we only come here three days a week.
NURA QADOM JUAT, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: Before, there were also some blackouts, but now it's much worse. It is difficult to concentrate when it's hot.
NARRATOR: Qarmat Ali is a city of around 80.000 inhabitants, just north of BasraThese days the route across the river is by boat. A pontoon bridge used to stand here, until it was destroyed in the early days of the war. People in Qarmat Ali say it was the British that bombed the bridge. But the British say it was the Iraqi army that blew the bridge up as they were retreating.But, one thing is certain - the bridge is now some distance downriver, and it will be a long while before the people of Qarmat Ali can drive directly into Basra by car. A number of students at the girls school live on the other bank. Their school route has become long and dangerous:
Fatin Majid Yassin/student, 9th grade Before the war, we could drive over the bridge, but since the British army came, there has not been any connection.
ISRAA QADOM SALEM, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: The most important thing to do is ensure safety. That is the most important thing for us students. And everyone should be able to receive an education.
NARRATOR: The girls are convinced it is Saddam Hussein's former security people who are behind the attacks, kidnappings and rapes that blight the city.And their teachers agree with them as to what the biggest problem is since Saddam's fall
BASEMA WANNAS DAFER, TEACHER: The biggest problem for students and teachers is the lack of security.We are always terrified on the way to and from school.When I am outside, I am afraid and am constantly looking over my shoulder.The girls feel exactly the same way.And whilst we are in school I am always afraid that armed gangs will come and steal and loot, placing all of us in danger.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: We havent found anything important that the British people do for us. Nothing at all. If something dangerous happens and the people of the town are threatened, the British will not come and put a stop to it.
NARRATOR: The British soldiers, from the legendary Desert Rats, have taken over the police station in Qarmat Ali.They have christened it Fort Wilderness. The small police station is the northern-most outpost in British controlled Basra - an area plagued by crime and bloody clan-fighting.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: Certainly this has got more problems than the rest of Basra, purely because of that fact. And that is why we are certainly targeting this area for our controls, our security patrols, in an attempt to bring some reassurance to this population.
NARRATOR: There are thirty British troops and eighty Iraqi policemen stationed at Fort Wilderness.The Iraqis consist mostly of former policemen from the Saddam era and former security guards. They British military police have been laying on short courses. In the long term, a new police training programme is planned.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: The volunteers go for a registration through the main police station in Basra. They then get looked at and vetted, to make sure that they have no former history with the regime. Because if they did then would lose the trust of local people. So were quite careful who we employ.
SHERIEF MOHAMMED, POLICE OFFICER: The British have taught us to be patient in our investigations.It can take time to find a wanted person, but if you are patient you will succeed.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: It is working well. And what we are trying to do is make sure the Iraqi people deal with Iraqi police, so they get a sense of Iraqi law and order returning to this area.
NARRATOR: An elderly man has come to the police station to report the murder of his son. His face has been blurred to protect him from revenge attack. His son was shot during one of the large clan wars which plague Qarmat Ali. Between seven and ten people every week die in clan fighting here. The elderly man will lead the British to the accused murderer's home, but first the British must call for reinforcements. Much of Qarmat Ali is still too dangerous for even the soldiers. Across Qarmat Ali tents like these have been erected for families to mourn after burials. This family lost their eldest son in 1983 - he was tortured and executed because he was a member of the Iraqi Communist party.The family was forced to pay for the bullets used to shoot their son.The young Communist was executed for treason, so the family were not allowed to mourn for him in 1983. Now Saddam has gone, they are free to mourn.Two of Amer Laftah's brothers were executed by Saddam's secret police. Another died during the first Gulf War and a fourth fled to Iran in 1992.
AMER LAFTAH, BANK HEAD CLERK: Vi have just found out that my brothers were executed. It has opened old wounds again. The old regime is over for us, but we hope to see with our own eyes that Saddam id dead and finished.That will make us even happier.
NARRATOR: Amer Laftah is married to school teacher, Iman Jasim Ubaid. She also lost family to Saddams thugs, and is strongly affected by the tragedies in her husband's family.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: When I manage to enter into this house, I find the sadness in this house. This sadness is still all...
NARRATOR: Even with the wages from the Bank and school, and only two children - everyday life is difficult for the family. Following years of neglect of the waterworks and water pipes, the tap water is so polluted that the water must be boiled and filtered before being used for cooking. Drinking water must be collected from outside the house.And since the introduction of UN sanctions against Iraq in 1991, the oil industry has been working at such a low tempo there is not enough gas to cook with.Traditional clay ovens and wood ovens have returned - but it is difficult to find wood.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
NARRATOR: Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women were left widowed by Saddams wars in Iran and Kuwait, that wiped out an entire generation of Iraqi men. Iman's colleague, Basema, is one such widow. Now she helps support her brothers' families. So, when she was pressed into joining Saddam Hussein's Baath party, she accepted, partly because she received three times more pay as a party member.
BASEMA WANNAS DAFTER, TEACHER: I was the headmistress to start with. A party member contacted me at the school and pressed me into becoming a member. I did not like the regime or the party. But, I have a big family and my brothers had no work. So, I was forced to go along with it. I had the choice of being sacked or joining the party. As a party member I rose in the ranks to become a section leader. At that time, I wanted to be division leader because my brother was wanted. As division leader I could cover up for my brother.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
TRANSLATOR: Do people treat you differently now the party and government are gone?
BASEMA WANNAS DAFTER, TEACHER: No, because I never did anyone any harm, not the students, teachers, neighbours nor relatives.Actually, as a party member I was able to help people more.
NARRATOR: When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed, the Iraqi people were quick to exploit the vacuum. Not only with crime and clan-war, but also by developing a highly visible black market. At the market in Qarmat Ali many stall owners are state employees, who lost their jobs with the regime's collapse. Many of the goods are stolen from relief warehouses and hospitals. At the local health clinic there is precious little medicine. The clinic was plundered when the British moved in. Even the ambulances were stolen.There are eight doctors at the health clinic. Together with nine other small local clinics, they serve the 80,000 residents of Qarmat Ali. After twelve years of UN sanctions the clinic is is in an advanced state of disrepair. The head doctor dares not ask the foreign organisations for new equipment, out of fear that they too will be stolen.
SABALI AL ABDUL MEHSON, DOCTOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: Whilst the doctors abilities to work are ever more restricted, the queue of patients grows. Among other things, the end of the war has seen an explosion in cases of cholera.
SABALI AL ABDUL MEHSON, DOCTOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: At the town hall Qarmat Ali's new legislative council is meeting for the first time. They are attempting to fill the political vacuum left after the leading members of Saddam Hussein's Baath-party fled the advancing British Army. The temporary council, led by Kadhim Abd-Ali, has been elected by opposition and religious leaders, teachers and tribal representatives. Abd-Ali was one of the leaders of the Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein in the wake of the Gulf War in 1991, fleeing to Iran after Saddam defeated the uprising. Shortly before Saddam's fall he returned to Iraq and hid in the marshes outside Qarmat Ali. Now he is temporary mayor. The council is pressing for the British to solve everyday problems.
KADHIM ABD-ALI, TEMPORARY MAYOR: We have approached the British and told them the people's rations are already or about to be used up.
NARRATOR: There are both religious leaders, and Communists in the council. Both groups were outlawed under Saddam Hussein - but all share the concerns they have for Iraq's future.
RELIGIOUS LEADER: We have not seen any initiatives which would help the local people. There situation is terrible. There is no work, everything has stopped.People are ashamed that they are sitting at home, without being able to support their families.
PRIEST: If the people lose all hope and nothing is done for us, we will choose other methods.
COMMUNIST: The Americans and the British must leave Iraq as they have promised. If they do not do this within two years, then we will hold them responsible.But, to come with threats and promises now, will not help our cause.
NARRATOR: One of the local schools has asked the council for help. An unexploded grenade has buried itself in the playground during the war, just a few meters from the classrooms. The teachers have tried a number of times to get the British to remove the ticking bomb from under the school children.
SAEED ABDULRASUL MAHMOUD, HEADMASTER: If it explodes, it will be a new tragedy. This is after all about children, who can be difficult to control. If it explodes there could be many casualties.
HABIB IONES JASSIM, NEIGHBOUR TO SCHOOL: One grenade landed over on the other side of the road, killing ten people from the same family.The other landed here. Luckily it did not explode. But, there is still the danger it might.
NARRATOR: Iraq's new politicians will also be met by claims for compensation for torture and persecution carried out during Saddam Hussein's dictatorship - One of those filing a claim will be Ali Abbas Sachit, who refused to join the Baath party whilst he was a soldier, and subsequently deserted. Together with 750 other deserters he was tortured, and had one ear cut off. Sachit was lucky - 120 of his fellow soldiers died during the operation.
ALI ABBAS SACHIT, TORTURE VICTIM: After they had cut my ear off they sent me to a prison run by Basra's police.Here I underwent indescribable torture and mistreatment.Many died of thirst or hunger, or of the torture and humiliation.We went against Saddam Hussein and all of his apparatus of state and refused to acknowledge him and his ideas.Hopefully people will see this as a mark of honour.
NARRATOR: The most pleasant way to travel from Qarmat Ali is to sail up the river. There, where the city ends, the enormous marshlands begin; stretching northwards between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.But even in the countryside, people are afraid of the crime that ravages the area.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: There is no security. We dare not sail too far up the river. You risk being attacked and killed. Security does not exist today.
NARRATOR: Abu Abdel Amir is the head of a family of fifteen, consisting of his wife, sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. For numerous generations the family has lived off fishing and farming in the fertile marshlands. But, in an attempt to stifle the marshlands rebellious streak, Saddam Hussein drained large areas of marsh, ridding the Amresh Arbs of their hiding places in the wild branching river system. Fishing is in recession and Abu Abdel Amir's sons are unsure they have any future.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: I am forced to take all sorts of other work, like a day-worker or construction worker. I have no choice.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: When I was young everything was better. Farming was better, fishing was better. Life was altogether better.
NARRATOR: The family dream about re-establishing the marshlands. And, perhaps a part of the marshes can be saved, if Saddam Hussein's dams are removed so the rivers can once again flow through the low-lying marshlands. In Qarmat Ali the British reinforcements have arrived. The soldiers and Iraqi police can move out to arrest the accused murderer.The father of the murdered man puts a mask on, so no one can recognise him, and the camera is refused permission to go with them into the house.A few minutes later the British come back with four men in custody - all from a rival clan to that of the murdered man. The British show of force is a clear signal to the Iraqis. The British wont tolerate inter-clan violence.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: At the girls school the teachers and students work hard on their English vocabulary. Iraq once had one of the best education systems in the Arab world, and there will be a great need for the girls' education in the re-building process.The fall of Saddam has given them new hope for the future.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
ROZAN KARIM FADEL, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: (In English)
NARRATOR: But the future might not be as free as Rozan imagines. Qarmat Ali lies in the Shiite part of Iraq. Islam has gained a real foothold here after the poverty of following numerous wars and twelve years of UN sanctions. The Mosque has become too small, so Friday prayers are now held in a parking lot, where almost all of the members of the new council are present. The only political party that has set itself up in Qarmat Ali, is the formerly banned 'Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq'. The Iranian inspired Islamists have moved into the Baath Party's old Headquarters - and pictures of the Revolutionary Council's leader Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, are hanging in the many places where Saddam's portrait used to hang. But, Qarmat Ali's temporary mayor is not a member of the Supreme Council and he is critical of al-Hakim's close contacts to Iran.
KADHIM ABD-ALI, TEMPORARY MAYOR: The Islamic Republic of Iran influences them.If al-Hakims Revolutionary Council try to copy the Iranian model they will meet great difficulty.
NARRATOR: But Ayatollah al-Hakim can expect support from others in Qarmat Ali.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
BASEMA WAMMAS DAFTER, TEACHER: I will not support a government led by al-Hakim.He is a religious leader and in Iraq we have many denominations. We have many Muslims, Sabeans and Christians, and there are both Sunnis and Shiites.I don't think al-Hakim will be able to ensure all Iraqis equal rights.
NARRATOR: In Qarmat Ali the electricity plant has sent workers out to repair the network.And the population are beginning to repair the water pipes themselves.But, before they can truly take on their new lives there is one question they want answered.What happened to Saddam Hussein?
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
ILAF ADEL SALEM, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: We need new exam papers, and everything students normally use, like exercise books and school books, and new school books, because we can't use the old ones any more.
NERMIN ABDEL HUSSEIN HASSAN, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: There is no security. Girls are being kidnapped off the street. So now we only come here three days a week.
NURA QADOM JUAT, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: Before, there were also some blackouts, but now it's much worse. It is difficult to concentrate when it's hot.
NARRATOR: Qarmat Ali is a city of around 80.000 inhabitants, just north of BasraThese days the route across the river is by boat. A pontoon bridge used to stand here, until it was destroyed in the early days of the war. People in Qarmat Ali say it was the British that bombed the bridge. But the British say it was the Iraqi army that blew the bridge up as they were retreating.But, one thing is certain - the bridge is now some distance downriver, and it will be a long while before the people of Qarmat Ali can drive directly into Basra by car. A number of students at the girls school live on the other bank. Their school route has become long and dangerous:
Fatin Majid Yassin/student, 9th grade Before the war, we could drive over the bridge, but since the British army came, there has not been any connection.
ISRAA QADOM SALEM, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: The most important thing to do is ensure safety. That is the most important thing for us students. And everyone should be able to receive an education.
NARRATOR: The girls are convinced it is Saddam Hussein's former security people who are behind the attacks, kidnappings and rapes that blight the city.And their teachers agree with them as to what the biggest problem is since Saddam's fall
BASEMA WANNAS DAFER, TEACHER: The biggest problem for students and teachers is the lack of security.We are always terrified on the way to and from school.When I am outside, I am afraid and am constantly looking over my shoulder.The girls feel exactly the same way.And whilst we are in school I am always afraid that armed gangs will come and steal and loot, placing all of us in danger.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: We havent found anything important that the British people do for us. Nothing at all. If something dangerous happens and the people of the town are threatened, the British will not come and put a stop to it.
NARRATOR: The British soldiers, from the legendary Desert Rats, have taken over the police station in Qarmat Ali.They have christened it Fort Wilderness. The small police station is the northern-most outpost in British controlled Basra - an area plagued by crime and bloody clan-fighting.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: Certainly this has got more problems than the rest of Basra, purely because of that fact. And that is why we are certainly targeting this area for our controls, our security patrols, in an attempt to bring some reassurance to this population.
NARRATOR: There are thirty British troops and eighty Iraqi policemen stationed at Fort Wilderness.The Iraqis consist mostly of former policemen from the Saddam era and former security guards. They British military police have been laying on short courses. In the long term, a new police training programme is planned.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: The volunteers go for a registration through the main police station in Basra. They then get looked at and vetted, to make sure that they have no former history with the regime. Because if they did then would lose the trust of local people. So were quite careful who we employ.
SHERIEF MOHAMMED, POLICE OFFICER: The British have taught us to be patient in our investigations.It can take time to find a wanted person, but if you are patient you will succeed.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: It is working well. And what we are trying to do is make sure the Iraqi people deal with Iraqi police, so they get a sense of Iraqi law and order returning to this area.
NARRATOR: An elderly man has come to the police station to report the murder of his son. His face has been blurred to protect him from revenge attack. His son was shot during one of the large clan wars which plague Qarmat Ali. Between seven and ten people every week die in clan fighting here. The elderly man will lead the British to the accused murderer's home, but first the British must call for reinforcements. Much of Qarmat Ali is still too dangerous for even the soldiers. Across Qarmat Ali tents like these have been erected for families to mourn after burials. This family lost their eldest son in 1983 - he was tortured and executed because he was a member of the Iraqi Communist party.The family was forced to pay for the bullets used to shoot their son.The young Communist was executed for treason, so the family were not allowed to mourn for him in 1983. Now Saddam has gone, they are free to mourn.Two of Amer Laftah's brothers were executed by Saddam's secret police. Another died during the first Gulf War and a fourth fled to Iran in 1992.
AMER LAFTAH, BANK HEAD CLERK: Vi have just found out that my brothers were executed. It has opened old wounds again. The old regime is over for us, but we hope to see with our own eyes that Saddam id dead and finished.That will make us even happier.
NARRATOR: Amer Laftah is married to school teacher, Iman Jasim Ubaid. She also lost family to Saddams thugs, and is strongly affected by the tragedies in her husband's family.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: When I manage to enter into this house, I find the sadness in this house. This sadness is still all...
NARRATOR: Even with the wages from the Bank and school, and only two children - everyday life is difficult for the family. Following years of neglect of the waterworks and water pipes, the tap water is so polluted that the water must be boiled and filtered before being used for cooking. Drinking water must be collected from outside the house.And since the introduction of UN sanctions against Iraq in 1991, the oil industry has been working at such a low tempo there is not enough gas to cook with.Traditional clay ovens and wood ovens have returned - but it is difficult to find wood.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
NARRATOR: Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women were left widowed by Saddams wars in Iran and Kuwait, that wiped out an entire generation of Iraqi men. Iman's colleague, Basema, is one such widow. Now she helps support her brothers' families. So, when she was pressed into joining Saddam Hussein's Baath party, she accepted, partly because she received three times more pay as a party member.
BASEMA WANNAS DAFTER, TEACHER: I was the headmistress to start with. A party member contacted me at the school and pressed me into becoming a member. I did not like the regime or the party. But, I have a big family and my brothers had no work. So, I was forced to go along with it. I had the choice of being sacked or joining the party. As a party member I rose in the ranks to become a section leader. At that time, I wanted to be division leader because my brother was wanted. As division leader I could cover up for my brother.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
TRANSLATOR: Do people treat you differently now the party and government are gone?
BASEMA WANNAS DAFTER, TEACHER: No, because I never did anyone any harm, not the students, teachers, neighbours nor relatives.Actually, as a party member I was able to help people more.
NARRATOR: When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed, the Iraqi people were quick to exploit the vacuum. Not only with crime and clan-war, but also by developing a highly visible black market. At the market in Qarmat Ali many stall owners are state employees, who lost their jobs with the regime's collapse. Many of the goods are stolen from relief warehouses and hospitals. At the local health clinic there is precious little medicine. The clinic was plundered when the British moved in. Even the ambulances were stolen.There are eight doctors at the health clinic. Together with nine other small local clinics, they serve the 80,000 residents of Qarmat Ali. After twelve years of UN sanctions the clinic is is in an advanced state of disrepair. The head doctor dares not ask the foreign organisations for new equipment, out of fear that they too will be stolen.
SABALI AL ABDUL MEHSON, DOCTOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: Whilst the doctors abilities to work are ever more restricted, the queue of patients grows. Among other things, the end of the war has seen an explosion in cases of cholera.
SABALI AL ABDUL MEHSON, DOCTOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: At the town hall Qarmat Ali's new legislative council is meeting for the first time. They are attempting to fill the political vacuum left after the leading members of Saddam Hussein's Baath-party fled the advancing British Army. The temporary council, led by Kadhim Abd-Ali, has been elected by opposition and religious leaders, teachers and tribal representatives. Abd-Ali was one of the leaders of the Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein in the wake of the Gulf War in 1991, fleeing to Iran after Saddam defeated the uprising. Shortly before Saddam's fall he returned to Iraq and hid in the marshes outside Qarmat Ali. Now he is temporary mayor. The council is pressing for the British to solve everyday problems.
KADHIM ABD-ALI, TEMPORARY MAYOR: We have approached the British and told them the people's rations are already or about to be used up.
NARRATOR: There are both religious leaders, and Communists in the council. Both groups were outlawed under Saddam Hussein - but all share the concerns they have for Iraq's future.
RELIGIOUS LEADER: We have not seen any initiatives which would help the local people. There situation is terrible. There is no work, everything has stopped.People are ashamed that they are sitting at home, without being able to support their families.
PRIEST: If the people lose all hope and nothing is done for us, we will choose other methods.
COMMUNIST: The Americans and the British must leave Iraq as they have promised. If they do not do this within two years, then we will hold them responsible.But, to come with threats and promises now, will not help our cause.
NARRATOR: One of the local schools has asked the council for help. An unexploded grenade has buried itself in the playground during the war, just a few meters from the classrooms. The teachers have tried a number of times to get the British to remove the ticking bomb from under the school children.
SAEED ABDULRASUL MAHMOUD, HEADMASTER: If it explodes, it will be a new tragedy. This is after all about children, who can be difficult to control. If it explodes there could be many casualties.
HABIB IONES JASSIM, NEIGHBOUR TO SCHOOL: One grenade landed over on the other side of the road, killing ten people from the same family.The other landed here. Luckily it did not explode. But, there is still the danger it might.
NARRATOR: Iraq's new politicians will also be met by claims for compensation for torture and persecution carried out during Saddam Hussein's dictatorship - One of those filing a claim will be Ali Abbas Sachit, who refused to join the Baath party whilst he was a soldier, and subsequently deserted. Together with 750 other deserters he was tortured, and had one ear cut off. Sachit was lucky - 120 of his fellow soldiers died during the operation.
ALI ABBAS SACHIT, TORTURE VICTIM: After they had cut my ear off they sent me to a prison run by Basra's police.Here I underwent indescribable torture and mistreatment.Many died of thirst or hunger, or of the torture and humiliation.We went against Saddam Hussein and all of his apparatus of state and refused to acknowledge him and his ideas.Hopefully people will see this as a mark of honour.
NARRATOR: The most pleasant way to travel from Qarmat Ali is to sail up the river. There, where the city ends, the enormous marshlands begin; stretching northwards between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.But even in the countryside, people are afraid of the crime that ravages the area.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: There is no security. We dare not sail too far up the river. You risk being attacked and killed. Security does not exist today.
NARRATOR: Abu Abdel Amir is the head of a family of fifteen, consisting of his wife, sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. For numerous generations the family has lived off fishing and farming in the fertile marshlands. But, in an attempt to stifle the marshlands rebellious streak, Saddam Hussein drained large areas of marsh, ridding the Amresh Arbs of their hiding places in the wild branching river system. Fishing is in recession and Abu Abdel Amir's sons are unsure they have any future.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: I am forced to take all sorts of other work, like a day-worker or construction worker. I have no choice.
ABU ABDEL AMIR, FISHERMAN: When I was young everything was better. Farming was better, fishing was better. Life was altogether better.
NARRATOR: The family dream about re-establishing the marshlands. And, perhaps a part of the marshes can be saved, if Saddam Hussein's dams are removed so the rivers can once again flow through the low-lying marshlands. In Qarmat Ali the British reinforcements have arrived. The soldiers and Iraqi police can move out to arrest the accused murderer.The father of the murdered man puts a mask on, so no one can recognise him, and the camera is refused permission to go with them into the house.A few minutes later the British come back with four men in custody - all from a rival clan to that of the murdered man. The British show of force is a clear signal to the Iraqis. The British wont tolerate inter-clan violence.
PAUL HANSON, MAJOR: (In English)
NARRATOR: At the girls school the teachers and students work hard on their English vocabulary. Iraq once had one of the best education systems in the Arab world, and there will be a great need for the girls' education in the re-building process.The fall of Saddam has given them new hope for the future.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
ROZAN KARIM FADEL, STUDENT, 9TH GRADE: (In English)
NARRATOR: But the future might not be as free as Rozan imagines. Qarmat Ali lies in the Shiite part of Iraq. Islam has gained a real foothold here after the poverty of following numerous wars and twelve years of UN sanctions. The Mosque has become too small, so Friday prayers are now held in a parking lot, where almost all of the members of the new council are present. The only political party that has set itself up in Qarmat Ali, is the formerly banned 'Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq'. The Iranian inspired Islamists have moved into the Baath Party's old Headquarters - and pictures of the Revolutionary Council's leader Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, are hanging in the many places where Saddam's portrait used to hang. But, Qarmat Ali's temporary mayor is not a member of the Supreme Council and he is critical of al-Hakim's close contacts to Iran.
KADHIM ABD-ALI, TEMPORARY MAYOR: The Islamic Republic of Iran influences them.If al-Hakims Revolutionary Council try to copy the Iranian model they will meet great difficulty.
NARRATOR: But Ayatollah al-Hakim can expect support from others in Qarmat Ali.
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)
BASEMA WAMMAS DAFTER, TEACHER: I will not support a government led by al-Hakim.He is a religious leader and in Iraq we have many denominations. We have many Muslims, Sabeans and Christians, and there are both Sunnis and Shiites.I don't think al-Hakim will be able to ensure all Iraqis equal rights.
NARRATOR: In Qarmat Ali the electricity plant has sent workers out to repair the network.And the population are beginning to repair the water pipes themselves.But, before they can truly take on their new lives there is one question they want answered.What happened to Saddam Hussein?
IMAN JASIM UBAID, TEACHER: (In English)