00:00:00:00 – GV Kirkuk Police Headquarters.
00:00:04:00 – KARZAN VO
THIS IS KIRKUK'S POLICE HEADQUARTERS. IT IS THE CENTRE OF THE STORM
OF VIOLENCE THAT HAS ENGULFED KIRKUK SINCE THE FALL OF SADDAM, A STORM THAT HAS CREATED HUNDREDS OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS.
UNDER CONSTANT THREAT FROM SUICIDE BOMBERS, IT IS UNLIKE ANY POLICE
STATION I HAVE EVER BEEN TO.
00:00:21:19 – KPTC – Caption – Karzan Sherabayani
This place was attacked by the insurgents only recently, and I am here because today I want to live one day in the life of Iraqi police in Kirkuk.
00:00:34:07 – KARZAN VO
KIRKUK IS A CITY MADE UP OF KURDS, TURKMEN, CHRISTIANS, SUNNIS AND
SHI'ITE ARABS. IT IS A VOLATILE MIX DEEPLY AFFECTED BY IRAQ'S DEEP ROOTEDETHNIC DIVISIONS.
SINCE MARCH 2003, SOME 5,200 MEN - MAINLY KURDS - HAVE JOINED THE
POLICE FORCE HERE, EAGER TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN THE FACE OF RISING
VIOLENCE. BUT IT HAS BEEN HARD. IN THE LAST THREE YEARS THERE HAVE
BEEN OVER 1, 300 ATTACKS ON THE POLICE HERE KILLING 210 AND INJURING
OVER 400.
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES THESE MEN TO WORK UNDER SUCH A THREAT, I MET WITH SARHAD - THE MOST WANTED POLICEMAN IN KIRKUK.
00:01:17:10 - Caption - Sarhad Qadir/ Chief of Kirkuk Police District
00:01:19:11 – SARHAD, (In Kurdish with English subtitles) - Today, we'll make sure you get to know the police.
00:01:23:12 – KARZAN VO
SARHAD STARTS BY INVITING ME INTO HIS OFFICE, WHERE HE ESTABLISHES EARLY ON THAT HE IS A BIG FAN OF THE COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ.
00:01:34:05 – S - This is Colonel Daniel giving me the Honorary Titile of General. The first time ever given by the Americans to an Iraqi police officer.
And this is a photo of my two children. This is my son, Alan, and my daughter Charya.
This is a Jihad issued to me yesterday by the Srya Al Mujahidun insurgents.
00:01:56:16 – KPTC
They are calling him an infidel because he is working with the Coalition forces, and they are saying that they will not stop until they get to kill him basically.
00:02:08:07 - K – (in Kurdish with English subtitles) - This is serious: how do you answer this?
S - I stood up against the brutal Ba'ath regime, and fought as a Peshmerga for my freedom. Fighting with an old AK47 against Saddam's tanks and jets. I am not going to give up now because of this.
00:02:25:06 – KARZAN VO
BUT IT IS A HARD BATTLE FOUGHT. JUST DAYS BEFORE I MET WITH SARHAD, KIRKUK WITNESSED ONE OF ITS DARKEST DAYS YET. SIX CARS, LOADED WITH EXPLOSIVES BY INSURGENTS, WERE DETONATED ACROSS THE CITY. 45 WERE KILLED, AND COUNTLESS CIVILIANS AND POLICEMEN INJURED.
BUT TO ME IT SEEMED THAT EVERY DAY SARHAD WAS WITNESS TO MAN'S REPEATED INHUMANITY TO MAN. I WATCHED AS HE WAS INUNDATED BY VISITORS, ALL WITH PRIVATE GRIEF AND LOSS.
00:03:01:22 – Sarhad on the phone – A Kurdish civilian Najat Ahmed has been kidnapped. They drove away in two cars.
00:03:06:09 – KPTC
The two cars drove in the direction of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace.
00:03:12:24 – KARZAN VO
THE DOOR KNOCKS AGAIN. THIS TIME IT IS OFFICER NAJM, ANOTHER VICTIM OF AN ATTACK. HE NEEDS AN OPERATION BUT HAS COMPLICATIONS.
00:03:21:06 – SARHAD - Can they operate you here?
NAJM - No, they can't do it.
S - Ask the doctor to write you a report and we will help you to go
abroad to have your operation.
00:03:34:06 – KARZAN VO
AND IT IS NOT JUST THE KURDS WHO ARE AFFECTED BY THE CIVIL WAR. KAZMIA IS A SUNNI ARAB. HER 26 YEAR OLD SON, RABIH, WAS KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS A POLICEMAN.
IN THE SPACE OF TWO HOURS I MUST HAVE SEEN OVER FIFTY PEOPLE LIKE THIS.
00:03:55:16 – S - Terrorists killed all these policemen.
K - Do their families get any help or compensations?
S - We keep asking the Interior Minister in Baghdad but up until this time they have not given any help to the families.
00:04:23:05 – KARZAN VO
WE WENT OUT ON PATROL.
00:04:27:07 - IN CAR - K - How much is your life at risk at the moment?
S - My life is a 100% in danger. At anytime I am the target for car suicide bombers, or even been shot at.
K - How many times have you been attacked so far?
00:04:56:01 – HIS PHONE RINGS -SARHAD ANSWERS.
S – they have just killed another one of our police in Hay Al Wasti.
00:05:00:05 – KPTC
Hay Al Wasti is in Kirkuk and it is a district very dodgy because Arab settlers brought in by Saddam Hussein to Arabise the city of Kirkuk, are still living there. And now that Saddam is behind bars, they are attacking the police, and they have just killed another.
00:05:18:06 – S - I was attacked 5 times by roadside bombs, from which I escaped. On the 19th May 2003, the Arabs attacked us by shooting up the police H.Q., I was injured with 3 of my bodyguards. Soon after that they shot at us in my car and killed two of my bodyguards. And the latest attempt was trying to poison me.
00:05:40:20 – KARZAN VO
I HAVE HARDLY HAD TIME TO TAKE ALL THIS IN, WHEN THE POLICE
CONVOY STOPPED AT A MEMORAIL SITE VERY DEAR TO SARHAD.
00:05:50:10 – KPTC
This is officer Sarhad's brother who was a police officer himself. He was killed on the 17th October 2005 by the insurgents and the terrorists.
00:06:03:14 – K - How old was he?
S - He was 29 years old.
00:06:06:22 – KPTC
And just look at the massive security around us, even checking this house to make sure nobody could hit the officer Sarhad now.
00:06:19:05 – IN THE CAR AGAIN - KARZAN VO
I AM AMAZED BY THE COURAGE OF SARHAD. HE KNOWS HE COULD BE
THE NEXT TO DIE, BUT HE IS DETRMINED.
00:06:29:10 –
S - The insurgents hate the Kurds because they believe we are in their way and so are preventing them from causing serious damage to the Coalition forces. They believe if they can make the Coalition forces fail in Kirkuk, then they can make them fail in all Iraq. The Shiite kill Sunnis, Sunnis Kill Shiites but both kill Kurds.
K - You don't seem very optimistic about the future.
S - I am not.
K - So how do you see Iraq's future?
S - In my opinion, Iraq must divide into three separate states between Basra in the south, Baghdad in the centre and Kirkuk in Kurdistan. That way the security of the situation can be controlled and the Iraqi people will be saved from all the violence.
00:07:29:09 – END
00:00:04:00 – KARZAN VO
THIS IS KIRKUK'S POLICE HEADQUARTERS. IT IS THE CENTRE OF THE STORM
OF VIOLENCE THAT HAS ENGULFED KIRKUK SINCE THE FALL OF SADDAM, A STORM THAT HAS CREATED HUNDREDS OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS.
UNDER CONSTANT THREAT FROM SUICIDE BOMBERS, IT IS UNLIKE ANY POLICE
STATION I HAVE EVER BEEN TO.
00:00:21:19 – KPTC – Caption – Karzan Sherabayani
This place was attacked by the insurgents only recently, and I am here because today I want to live one day in the life of Iraqi police in Kirkuk.
00:00:34:07 – KARZAN VO
KIRKUK IS A CITY MADE UP OF KURDS, TURKMEN, CHRISTIANS, SUNNIS AND
SHI'ITE ARABS. IT IS A VOLATILE MIX DEEPLY AFFECTED BY IRAQ'S DEEP ROOTEDETHNIC DIVISIONS.
SINCE MARCH 2003, SOME 5,200 MEN - MAINLY KURDS - HAVE JOINED THE
POLICE FORCE HERE, EAGER TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN THE FACE OF RISING
VIOLENCE. BUT IT HAS BEEN HARD. IN THE LAST THREE YEARS THERE HAVE
BEEN OVER 1, 300 ATTACKS ON THE POLICE HERE KILLING 210 AND INJURING
OVER 400.
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES THESE MEN TO WORK UNDER SUCH A THREAT, I MET WITH SARHAD - THE MOST WANTED POLICEMAN IN KIRKUK.
00:01:17:10 - Caption - Sarhad Qadir/ Chief of Kirkuk Police District
00:01:19:11 – SARHAD, (In Kurdish with English subtitles) - Today, we'll make sure you get to know the police.
00:01:23:12 – KARZAN VO
SARHAD STARTS BY INVITING ME INTO HIS OFFICE, WHERE HE ESTABLISHES EARLY ON THAT HE IS A BIG FAN OF THE COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ.
00:01:34:05 – S - This is Colonel Daniel giving me the Honorary Titile of General. The first time ever given by the Americans to an Iraqi police officer.
And this is a photo of my two children. This is my son, Alan, and my daughter Charya.
This is a Jihad issued to me yesterday by the Srya Al Mujahidun insurgents.
00:01:56:16 – KPTC
They are calling him an infidel because he is working with the Coalition forces, and they are saying that they will not stop until they get to kill him basically.
00:02:08:07 - K – (in Kurdish with English subtitles) - This is serious: how do you answer this?
S - I stood up against the brutal Ba'ath regime, and fought as a Peshmerga for my freedom. Fighting with an old AK47 against Saddam's tanks and jets. I am not going to give up now because of this.
00:02:25:06 – KARZAN VO
BUT IT IS A HARD BATTLE FOUGHT. JUST DAYS BEFORE I MET WITH SARHAD, KIRKUK WITNESSED ONE OF ITS DARKEST DAYS YET. SIX CARS, LOADED WITH EXPLOSIVES BY INSURGENTS, WERE DETONATED ACROSS THE CITY. 45 WERE KILLED, AND COUNTLESS CIVILIANS AND POLICEMEN INJURED.
BUT TO ME IT SEEMED THAT EVERY DAY SARHAD WAS WITNESS TO MAN'S REPEATED INHUMANITY TO MAN. I WATCHED AS HE WAS INUNDATED BY VISITORS, ALL WITH PRIVATE GRIEF AND LOSS.
00:03:01:22 – Sarhad on the phone – A Kurdish civilian Najat Ahmed has been kidnapped. They drove away in two cars.
00:03:06:09 – KPTC
The two cars drove in the direction of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace.
00:03:12:24 – KARZAN VO
THE DOOR KNOCKS AGAIN. THIS TIME IT IS OFFICER NAJM, ANOTHER VICTIM OF AN ATTACK. HE NEEDS AN OPERATION BUT HAS COMPLICATIONS.
00:03:21:06 – SARHAD - Can they operate you here?
NAJM - No, they can't do it.
S - Ask the doctor to write you a report and we will help you to go
abroad to have your operation.
00:03:34:06 – KARZAN VO
AND IT IS NOT JUST THE KURDS WHO ARE AFFECTED BY THE CIVIL WAR. KAZMIA IS A SUNNI ARAB. HER 26 YEAR OLD SON, RABIH, WAS KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS A POLICEMAN.
IN THE SPACE OF TWO HOURS I MUST HAVE SEEN OVER FIFTY PEOPLE LIKE THIS.
00:03:55:16 – S - Terrorists killed all these policemen.
K - Do their families get any help or compensations?
S - We keep asking the Interior Minister in Baghdad but up until this time they have not given any help to the families.
00:04:23:05 – KARZAN VO
WE WENT OUT ON PATROL.
00:04:27:07 - IN CAR - K - How much is your life at risk at the moment?
S - My life is a 100% in danger. At anytime I am the target for car suicide bombers, or even been shot at.
K - How many times have you been attacked so far?
00:04:56:01 – HIS PHONE RINGS -SARHAD ANSWERS.
S – they have just killed another one of our police in Hay Al Wasti.
00:05:00:05 – KPTC
Hay Al Wasti is in Kirkuk and it is a district very dodgy because Arab settlers brought in by Saddam Hussein to Arabise the city of Kirkuk, are still living there. And now that Saddam is behind bars, they are attacking the police, and they have just killed another.
00:05:18:06 – S - I was attacked 5 times by roadside bombs, from which I escaped. On the 19th May 2003, the Arabs attacked us by shooting up the police H.Q., I was injured with 3 of my bodyguards. Soon after that they shot at us in my car and killed two of my bodyguards. And the latest attempt was trying to poison me.
00:05:40:20 – KARZAN VO
I HAVE HARDLY HAD TIME TO TAKE ALL THIS IN, WHEN THE POLICE
CONVOY STOPPED AT A MEMORAIL SITE VERY DEAR TO SARHAD.
00:05:50:10 – KPTC
This is officer Sarhad's brother who was a police officer himself. He was killed on the 17th October 2005 by the insurgents and the terrorists.
00:06:03:14 – K - How old was he?
S - He was 29 years old.
00:06:06:22 – KPTC
And just look at the massive security around us, even checking this house to make sure nobody could hit the officer Sarhad now.
00:06:19:05 – IN THE CAR AGAIN - KARZAN VO
I AM AMAZED BY THE COURAGE OF SARHAD. HE KNOWS HE COULD BE
THE NEXT TO DIE, BUT HE IS DETRMINED.
00:06:29:10 –
S - The insurgents hate the Kurds because they believe we are in their way and so are preventing them from causing serious damage to the Coalition forces. They believe if they can make the Coalition forces fail in Kirkuk, then they can make them fail in all Iraq. The Shiite kill Sunnis, Sunnis Kill Shiites but both kill Kurds.
K - You don't seem very optimistic about the future.
S - I am not.
K - So how do you see Iraq's future?
S - In my opinion, Iraq must divide into three separate states between Basra in the south, Baghdad in the centre and Kirkuk in Kurdistan. That way the security of the situation can be controlled and the Iraqi people will be saved from all the violence.
00:07:29:09 – END