Shia-istan
by Maziar Bahari
commissioned by Independant Fund, Channel4 News
reporter Alex Thomson
Given the risks, this year of all years in Iraq - you'd think twice about going wouldn't you? Well 7 million Shiap ilgrims descended on Kerbala this month - from all over Iraq -- and beyond...
NATS
Risking their lives -- to pay respects to the saint -- Imam Hussein -- who died 1400 years ago...
SOT ONE -LEG IN:"I'm not afraid of the terrorists. I believe in the Imam Hussein and am willing to sacrifice my life for him."
KHOZAIR OUT:"...life for him."
Khozair has walked here from Basrah. Roughly the distance from Edinburgh to London -- on one leg...
NATS
The Shia feel threatened -- by Sunnis, foreign invaders, neighbouring Jordan and Saudi Arabia. So this years showing in Karbala's more intense. The message in the flagellation - we are the majority -- our time has come...
SOT SEYYED HELO IN:"I tell all the Arab countries and I tell the Saddamists who are afraid of a Shia majority power in Iraq -- in any future election in Iraq the Shias will be even more powerful."
REGIONAL SHIA COMMANDER
So the Shia believe they are now on the march - to Kerbala yes -- but perhaps towards autonomy like the northern Kurds. Nobody talks openly about Shia-istan -- but it could be beginning to happen...
Though marching south from Baghdad is dangerous - their armed guards returned fire as Sunnis ambushed them....
But in the south they are safe - under the protection of a Shia dominated army and police force...
Invoking the image of Imam Hussein - for the Shia - the ultimate symbol of a man prepared to defy the oppression of his people...
SOT ALI IN:"The revolution of..."
OUT:"...Imam Hussein."
Ali Hussein and Ahmed Ali are in the Mahdi Army - the militia loyal to the Shia leader Moqtada al Sadr. To the Americans - they are terrorists...
SOT ALI IN:"The Americans barge into..."
OUT:"...an Iraqi woman."
By night, the Mahdi Army are out in force on Kerbala's streets. The US military surge in Baghdad means a Mahdi Army surge here -- they've come south to sit out the fighting...
But the army's on the run. Moqtada al Sadr has been shut out of the new Iraq by the Americans. Deprived of a voice, an influence, there are signs that the Mahdi Army is disintegrating into gangs...
Right now -- the line between the Mahdi Army militia and the sectarian death squads is hard to draw...
Amongst the pilgrims, two men who wish to be known as Haydar and Maher. They said they wanted to set up a resistance group to fight the Americans...
But then, in February 2006 - this...
NATS
Sunni extremists bomb the holy Shia shrine in Samara. That did it. Their war against foreigners became a war against Sunnis -- particularly fundamentalist Wahabis...
SOT IN:"I cannot TELL you how I felt when the Shrine of the Imam was bombed. We decided to get intelligence about Wahabis. We decided to kidnap them. We question them. We don't just take it on trust. If they don't talk we don't torture them -- we just hit them. We only break their main bones in their bodies. We get their confessions on disc. Then we shoot them with a revolver."
Their death squad operates up in Baghdad. To see anyone talking about this is extremely rare. They allowed us to see DVDs of their bloodied victims confessing - but wouldn't let us keep them or film them. They accuse the Americans of conspiring with the Sunnis....
SOT IN:" They came to..."
OUT:"...demolish this country."
They say they're not in the Mahdi Army. They respect its leader Moqtada al Sadr - but clearly don't accept his order banning sectarian attacks...
The images of Moqtada al Sadr and his father are everywhere in Karbala. But where is the man himself? He didn't appear -- the Americans say he's in Iran. His people say he's taking a break from politics to write a religious thesis..
But Abdulaziz Hakim is here, commander of the much larger, more organised Badr Organisation - a private army 10,000 strong and trained in Iran -- unlike Al Sadr's rag-tag militia...
He's an ally of Teheran -- but also of Washington. If Shia-istan were to become reality -- Hakim is its most likely leader - not Moqtada al Sadr. Which makes him a major target. It took five armoured cars and 250 armed guards just to transport him, in one piece, the short distance from home to the main shrine in Karbala...
His message to the faithful - don't break the law - help rebuild this country peacefully...music to America's ears - though the relationship with the occupiers is far from easy...
As Hakim's son Amar will tell you. Recently arrested at gunpoint and interrogated by US forces...
AMAR HAKIM SOT IN:"My message for the Americans is: they can't just do what they want in this country. Arrest who they want. Abuse who they want. Amercian rifles were pointed at Iraqi police protecting me. And they think this is OK. What would they do if it were Iraqis pointing guns at them?"
NATS GATE KICKED IN
*****************************************************************************************************************
POSS CUT THIS SECTION
Like so many Shia - Amar suggests that the current American military surge is a conspiracy with Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia to attack the Shia. Saudi Arabia has openly said it would help Sunni insurgents when the Americans leave...
AMAR HAKIM SOT IN:"Some countries are actively helping large numbers of terrorists to enter. There's talk of 20,000 Arabs who want to blow themselves up and reach paradise by the tears of innocent people."
*****************************************************************************************************************
And yet - when things go wrong, the Shia rely on American muscle. Local army units in the south are Shia-dominated. Najaf Province, one of the first areas of Iraq where foreign forces left them to police themselves...
But last month, when a well-armed religious militia rose up here, they simply couldn't cope. US airpower put down the uprising with devastating results. The prisoners, lucky to escape alive. Proof again, that the Shia -- whilst suspicious of the Americans -- also depend upon them...
NATS CHANTING
And which country benefits most from this US protective shield? Why yes -- Shia Iran of course, just across the border from Shia southern Iraq. Milions of Iranian pilgrims mingle with Iraqis around holy cities like Najaf....
Iranian tourists spend well...Iranian goods saturate the bazaars...Iranian money rebuilds facilities for its pilgrims here...
And - say Britain and America -- Iran is arming the militias and death squads too. It's a charge many influential Shias here bascially agree with...
SEYYED SADEGH IN:" Look - as a security official I'm seeing weapons coming from Iran. We don't know whether the Iranian government knows about it or not. We've seized some of these weapons - but whether they're left over from previous wars or newly smuggled in - I don't know."
NATS MARSHES/WATERWAYS
Well if he doesn't know -- there are plenty who do. And we found some of them out in Iraq's marshes, now slowly coming back to life after Saddam's attempts to drain them...
Ask the Shia Marsh Arabs -- they say it's simple geography. If countries the other side of the world think Iraq is their sphere of influence, well, it's hardly surprising that Iran -- the country the other side of the border -- does too. Abu Hatam is known as the prince of the Marsh Arabs...
ABU HATAM "American forces have come here from 27,000 kilometres away. The British are here from 11,000 kilometres away. They say that they are here to just protect their interests and our security. So it's just natural to expect Iran, our neighbour which has common history, religion and culture, to have influence here and want to protect its interests in Iraq."
"PRINCE OF THE MARSHES"
He's not in the government - but is seen as an authority figure in the Marshes. We travelled with him as he visited his people there for a funeral...
NATS
But the wake turned into a debate which became and argument -- why - they berate the Prince -- why are we still living like this after these years of occupation? What has changed for us? The Prince could offer them little reassurance.
SUBTITLING
MAN
"WE BEG EVERY OFFICIAL AND LEADER . ESPECIALLY YOU - A WARRIOR, ABU HATAM, A MAN WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS. YOU KNOW WHAT WEWENT THROUGH BEFORE. WE'RE STILL IN JUST THE SAME STATE AS WE WERE UNDER SADDAM."
(CUTAWAY SHOT)
"POOR PEOPLE HAVE STAYED POOR. THE LIARS AND CRIMINALS ARE DOING FINE. GOOD PEOPLEARE RIGHT WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE."
The austere life out in the Shia marshes parallels the seige mentality of the Shia in the cities. The pain of poverty, the agony of sectarian civil wars.
One of the man who was arguing with the Prince, Sheikh Zahed wanted to take us to his people...
SOT SHEIKH ZAHED " Look at the situation here - that's how poor people live. These are their houses. They didn't have anything under the Saddam -- and this is their situation now. Everything's the same."
Out here -- as in the cities - expectations were naturally raised after Saddam was removed. But across the country -- from Kurd to Sunni to Shia to the Marsh Arabs - expectations have not been met....
SOT SHEIKH ZAHED "The Americans are hypocrites. They came here and pretended to be the liberators. But they are the occupiers. Since the beginning of the war the Americans haven't done anything for us . It is true, they got rid of Saddam Hussein. But they did it for their own interests - not the interests of the oppressed Iraqi people."
Abu Hatam -- prince of the marshes -- was once a legendary fighter against Saddam. During the invasion he was a key ally of the British -- now though, he's questioning his support of the occupation...
SOT ABU HATEM "Every time I hear there's a debate in the British House of Commons I'm shocked that people from different ministries -- especially the Ministry of Defence -- say they've done a good job and rebuilt Iraq. If this is what people are saying this is very misleading and wrong information."
Whatever the British are saying -- they all want out of Iraq. But the prince of the marshes - even now -- does NOT want them to cut and run....
SOT ABU HATEM
"The British should think about what they're doing before getting out of Iraq. They should give it serious consideration. They came and occupied Iraq without any plan whatsoever. They shouldn't repeat that mistake by leaving without a plan."
And that serious consideration is plain -- should the foreigners leave, will Shia-istan become more of a reality across southern Iraq? Will it turn even more, upon its Sunni neighbours? Will it turn upon itself?
by Maziar Bahari
commissioned by Independant Fund, Channel4 News
reporter Alex Thomson
Given the risks, this year of all years in Iraq - you'd think twice about going wouldn't you? Well 7 million Shiap ilgrims descended on Kerbala this month - from all over Iraq -- and beyond...
NATS
Risking their lives -- to pay respects to the saint -- Imam Hussein -- who died 1400 years ago...
SOT ONE -LEG IN:"I'm not afraid of the terrorists. I believe in the Imam Hussein and am willing to sacrifice my life for him."
KHOZAIR OUT:"...life for him."
Khozair has walked here from Basrah. Roughly the distance from Edinburgh to London -- on one leg...
NATS
The Shia feel threatened -- by Sunnis, foreign invaders, neighbouring Jordan and Saudi Arabia. So this years showing in Karbala's more intense. The message in the flagellation - we are the majority -- our time has come...
SOT SEYYED HELO IN:"I tell all the Arab countries and I tell the Saddamists who are afraid of a Shia majority power in Iraq -- in any future election in Iraq the Shias will be even more powerful."
REGIONAL SHIA COMMANDER
So the Shia believe they are now on the march - to Kerbala yes -- but perhaps towards autonomy like the northern Kurds. Nobody talks openly about Shia-istan -- but it could be beginning to happen...
Though marching south from Baghdad is dangerous - their armed guards returned fire as Sunnis ambushed them....
But in the south they are safe - under the protection of a Shia dominated army and police force...
Invoking the image of Imam Hussein - for the Shia - the ultimate symbol of a man prepared to defy the oppression of his people...
SOT ALI IN:"The revolution of..."
OUT:"...Imam Hussein."
Ali Hussein and Ahmed Ali are in the Mahdi Army - the militia loyal to the Shia leader Moqtada al Sadr. To the Americans - they are terrorists...
SOT ALI IN:"The Americans barge into..."
OUT:"...an Iraqi woman."
By night, the Mahdi Army are out in force on Kerbala's streets. The US military surge in Baghdad means a Mahdi Army surge here -- they've come south to sit out the fighting...
But the army's on the run. Moqtada al Sadr has been shut out of the new Iraq by the Americans. Deprived of a voice, an influence, there are signs that the Mahdi Army is disintegrating into gangs...
Right now -- the line between the Mahdi Army militia and the sectarian death squads is hard to draw...
Amongst the pilgrims, two men who wish to be known as Haydar and Maher. They said they wanted to set up a resistance group to fight the Americans...
But then, in February 2006 - this...
NATS
Sunni extremists bomb the holy Shia shrine in Samara. That did it. Their war against foreigners became a war against Sunnis -- particularly fundamentalist Wahabis...
SOT IN:"I cannot TELL you how I felt when the Shrine of the Imam was bombed. We decided to get intelligence about Wahabis. We decided to kidnap them. We question them. We don't just take it on trust. If they don't talk we don't torture them -- we just hit them. We only break their main bones in their bodies. We get their confessions on disc. Then we shoot them with a revolver."
Their death squad operates up in Baghdad. To see anyone talking about this is extremely rare. They allowed us to see DVDs of their bloodied victims confessing - but wouldn't let us keep them or film them. They accuse the Americans of conspiring with the Sunnis....
SOT IN:" They came to..."
OUT:"...demolish this country."
They say they're not in the Mahdi Army. They respect its leader Moqtada al Sadr - but clearly don't accept his order banning sectarian attacks...
The images of Moqtada al Sadr and his father are everywhere in Karbala. But where is the man himself? He didn't appear -- the Americans say he's in Iran. His people say he's taking a break from politics to write a religious thesis..
But Abdulaziz Hakim is here, commander of the much larger, more organised Badr Organisation - a private army 10,000 strong and trained in Iran -- unlike Al Sadr's rag-tag militia...
He's an ally of Teheran -- but also of Washington. If Shia-istan were to become reality -- Hakim is its most likely leader - not Moqtada al Sadr. Which makes him a major target. It took five armoured cars and 250 armed guards just to transport him, in one piece, the short distance from home to the main shrine in Karbala...
His message to the faithful - don't break the law - help rebuild this country peacefully...music to America's ears - though the relationship with the occupiers is far from easy...
As Hakim's son Amar will tell you. Recently arrested at gunpoint and interrogated by US forces...
AMAR HAKIM SOT IN:"My message for the Americans is: they can't just do what they want in this country. Arrest who they want. Abuse who they want. Amercian rifles were pointed at Iraqi police protecting me. And they think this is OK. What would they do if it were Iraqis pointing guns at them?"
NATS GATE KICKED IN
*****************************************************************************************************************
POSS CUT THIS SECTION
Like so many Shia - Amar suggests that the current American military surge is a conspiracy with Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia to attack the Shia. Saudi Arabia has openly said it would help Sunni insurgents when the Americans leave...
AMAR HAKIM SOT IN:"Some countries are actively helping large numbers of terrorists to enter. There's talk of 20,000 Arabs who want to blow themselves up and reach paradise by the tears of innocent people."
*****************************************************************************************************************
And yet - when things go wrong, the Shia rely on American muscle. Local army units in the south are Shia-dominated. Najaf Province, one of the first areas of Iraq where foreign forces left them to police themselves...
But last month, when a well-armed religious militia rose up here, they simply couldn't cope. US airpower put down the uprising with devastating results. The prisoners, lucky to escape alive. Proof again, that the Shia -- whilst suspicious of the Americans -- also depend upon them...
NATS CHANTING
And which country benefits most from this US protective shield? Why yes -- Shia Iran of course, just across the border from Shia southern Iraq. Milions of Iranian pilgrims mingle with Iraqis around holy cities like Najaf....
Iranian tourists spend well...Iranian goods saturate the bazaars...Iranian money rebuilds facilities for its pilgrims here...
And - say Britain and America -- Iran is arming the militias and death squads too. It's a charge many influential Shias here bascially agree with...
SEYYED SADEGH IN:" Look - as a security official I'm seeing weapons coming from Iran. We don't know whether the Iranian government knows about it or not. We've seized some of these weapons - but whether they're left over from previous wars or newly smuggled in - I don't know."
NATS MARSHES/WATERWAYS
Well if he doesn't know -- there are plenty who do. And we found some of them out in Iraq's marshes, now slowly coming back to life after Saddam's attempts to drain them...
Ask the Shia Marsh Arabs -- they say it's simple geography. If countries the other side of the world think Iraq is their sphere of influence, well, it's hardly surprising that Iran -- the country the other side of the border -- does too. Abu Hatam is known as the prince of the Marsh Arabs...
ABU HATAM "American forces have come here from 27,000 kilometres away. The British are here from 11,000 kilometres away. They say that they are here to just protect their interests and our security. So it's just natural to expect Iran, our neighbour which has common history, religion and culture, to have influence here and want to protect its interests in Iraq."
"PRINCE OF THE MARSHES"
He's not in the government - but is seen as an authority figure in the Marshes. We travelled with him as he visited his people there for a funeral...
NATS
But the wake turned into a debate which became and argument -- why - they berate the Prince -- why are we still living like this after these years of occupation? What has changed for us? The Prince could offer them little reassurance.
SUBTITLING
MAN
"WE BEG EVERY OFFICIAL AND LEADER . ESPECIALLY YOU - A WARRIOR, ABU HATAM, A MAN WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THESE THINGS. YOU KNOW WHAT WEWENT THROUGH BEFORE. WE'RE STILL IN JUST THE SAME STATE AS WE WERE UNDER SADDAM."
(CUTAWAY SHOT)
"POOR PEOPLE HAVE STAYED POOR. THE LIARS AND CRIMINALS ARE DOING FINE. GOOD PEOPLEARE RIGHT WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE."
The austere life out in the Shia marshes parallels the seige mentality of the Shia in the cities. The pain of poverty, the agony of sectarian civil wars.
One of the man who was arguing with the Prince, Sheikh Zahed wanted to take us to his people...
SOT SHEIKH ZAHED " Look at the situation here - that's how poor people live. These are their houses. They didn't have anything under the Saddam -- and this is their situation now. Everything's the same."
Out here -- as in the cities - expectations were naturally raised after Saddam was removed. But across the country -- from Kurd to Sunni to Shia to the Marsh Arabs - expectations have not been met....
SOT SHEIKH ZAHED "The Americans are hypocrites. They came here and pretended to be the liberators. But they are the occupiers. Since the beginning of the war the Americans haven't done anything for us . It is true, they got rid of Saddam Hussein. But they did it for their own interests - not the interests of the oppressed Iraqi people."
Abu Hatam -- prince of the marshes -- was once a legendary fighter against Saddam. During the invasion he was a key ally of the British -- now though, he's questioning his support of the occupation...
SOT ABU HATEM "Every time I hear there's a debate in the British House of Commons I'm shocked that people from different ministries -- especially the Ministry of Defence -- say they've done a good job and rebuilt Iraq. If this is what people are saying this is very misleading and wrong information."
Whatever the British are saying -- they all want out of Iraq. But the prince of the marshes - even now -- does NOT want them to cut and run....
SOT ABU HATEM
"The British should think about what they're doing before getting out of Iraq. They should give it serious consideration. They came and occupied Iraq without any plan whatsoever. They shouldn't repeat that mistake by leaving without a plan."
And that serious consideration is plain -- should the foreigners leave, will Shia-istan become more of a reality across southern Iraq? Will it turn even more, upon its Sunni neighbours? Will it turn upon itself?