Aniruddha –Who seized Simona Torretta?
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1. The Guardian Thursday September 16, 2004 — Who seized Simona Torretta?
2. Kidnapped Italian Aid Worker Simona Torretta On Why She Went to Baghdad: “Iraq is a Part of My Life”
This Iraqi kidnapping has the mark of an undercover police operation
Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill
When Simona Torretta returned to Baghdad in March 2003, in the
midst of the “shock and awe” aerial bombardment, her Iraqi friends
greeted her by telling her she was nuts. “They were just so surprised
to see me. They said, ‘Why are you coming here? Go back to Italy.
Are you crazy?'”
But Torretta didn’t go back. She stayed throughout the invasion,
continuing the humanitarian work she began in 1996, when she first
visited Iraq with her anti-sanctions NGO, A Bridge to Baghdad. When
Baghdad fell, Torretta again opted to stay, this time to bring medicine
and water to Iraqis suffering under occupation. Even after resistance
fighters began targeting foreigners, and most foreign journalists and
aid workers fled, Torretta again returned. “I cannot stay in Italy,” the
29-year-old told a documentary film-maker.
Today, Torretta’s life is in danger, along with the lives of her fellow
Italian aid worker Simona Pari, and their Iraqi colleagues Raad Ali
Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam. Eight days ago, the four were
snatched at gunpoint from their home/office in Baghdad and have not
been heard from since. In the absence of direct communication from
their abductors, political controversy swirls round the incident.
Proponents of the war are using it to paint peaceniks as naive,
blithely supporting a resistance that answers international solidarity
with kidnappings and beheadings. Meanwhile, a growing number of
Islamic leaders are hinting that the raid on A Bridge to Baghdad was
not the work of mujahideen, but of foreign intelligence agencies out to
discredit the resistance.
Nothing about this kidnapping fits the pattern of other abductions.
Most are opportunistic attacks on treacherous stretches of road.
Torretta and her colleagues were coldly hunted down in their home.
And while mujahideen in Iraq scrupulously hide their identities,
making sure to wrap their faces in scarves, these kidnappers were
bare-faced and clean-shaven, some in business suits. One assailant
was addressed by the others as “sir”.
Kidnap victims have overwhelmingly been men, yet three of these
four are women. Witnesses say the gunmen questioned staff in the
building until the Simonas were identified by name, and that Mahnouz
Bassam, an Iraqi woman, was dragged screaming by her headscarf,
a shocking religious transgression for an attack supposedly carried
out in the name of Islam.
Most extraordinary was the size of the operation: rather than the
usual three or four fighters, 20 armed men pulled up to the house in
broad daylight, seemingly unconcerned about being caught. Only
blocks from the heavily patrolled Green Zone, the whole operation
went off with no interference from Iraqi police or US military – although
Newsweek reported that “about 15 minutes afterwards, an American
Humvee convoy passed hardly a block away”.
And then there were the weapons. The attackers were armed with
AK-47s, shotguns, pistols with silencers and stun guns – hardly the
mujahideen’s standard-issue rusty Kalashnikovs. Strangest of all is
this detail: witnesses said that several attackers wore Iraqi National
Guard uniforms and identified themselves as working for Ayad Allawi,
the interim prime minister.
An Iraqi government spokesperson denied that Allawi’s office was
involved. But Sabah Kadhim, a spokesperson for the interior ministry,
conceded that the kidnappers “were wearing military uniforms and
flak jackets”. So was this a kidnapping by the resistance or a covert
police operation? Or was it something worse: a revival of Saddam’s
mukhabarat disappearances, when agents would arrest enemies of
the regime, never to be heard from again? Who could have pulled off
such a coordinated operation – and who stands to benefit from an
attack on this anti-war NGO?
On Monday, the Italian press began reporting on one possible
answer. Sheikh Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, from Iraq’s leading Sunni
cleric organisation, told reporters in Baghdad that he received a visit
from Torretta and Pari the day before the kidnap. “They were scared,”
the cleric said. “They told me that someone threatened them.” Asked
who was behind the threats, al-Kubaisi replied: “We suspect some
foreign intelligence.”
Blaming unpopular resistance attacks on CIA or Mossad conspiracies
is idle chatter in Baghdad, but coming from Kubaisi, the claim carries
unusual weight; he has ties with a range of resistance groups and
has brokered the release of several hostages. Kubaisi’s allegations
have been widely reported in Arab media, as well as in Italy, but have
been absent from the English-language press.
Western journalists are loath to talk about spies for fear of being
labelled conspiracy theorists. But spies and covert operations are not
a conspiracy in Iraq; they are a daily reality. According to CIA deputy
director James L Pavitt, “Baghdad is home to the largest CIA station
since the Vietnam war”, with 500 to 600 agents on the ground. Allawi
himself is a lifelong spook who has worked with MI6, the CIA and the
mukhabarat, specialising in removing enemies of the regime.
A Bridge to Baghdad has been unapologetic in its opposition to the
occupation regime. During the siege of Falluja in April, it coordinated
risky humanitarian missions. US forces had sealed the road to Falluja
and banished the press as they prepared to punish the entire city for
the gruesome killings of four Blackwater mercenaries. In August,
when US marines laid siege to Najaf, A Bridge to Baghdad again
went where the occupation forces wanted no witnesses. And the day
before their kidnapping, Torretta and Pari told Kubaisi that they were
planning yet another high-risk mission to Falluja.
In the eight days since their abduction, pleas for their release have
crossed all geographical, religious and cultural lines. The Palestinian
group Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah, the International Association of Islamic
Scholars and several Iraqi resistance groups have all voiced outrage.
A resistance group in Falluja said the kidnap suggests collaboration
with foreign forces. Yet some voices are conspicuous by their
absence: the White House and the office of Allawi. Neither has said a
word.
What we do know is this: if this hostage-taking ends in bloodshed,
Washington, Rome and their Iraqi surrogates will be quick to use the
tragedy to justify the brutal occupation – an occupation that Simona
Torretta, Simona Pari, Raad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam
risked their lives to oppose. And we will be left wondering whether
that was the plan all along.
· Jeremy Scahill is a reporter for the independent US radio/TV show
Democracy Now; Naomi Klein is the author of No Logo and Fences
and Windows
jeremy@democracynow.org
www.nologo.com
——————————
2. Kidnapped Italian Aid Worker Simona Torretta On
Why She Went to Baghdad: “Iraq is a Part of My Life”
http://democracynow.org/ Tuesday, September 14th, 2004
As the fate of the two Italian and two Iraqi humanitarian workers of
the Italian organization “A Bridge to Baghdad” abducted last week
hangs in the balance, we play an excerpt of an interview recorded in
February 2004 with Simona Toretta, one of the Italian aid workers
taken hostage. [includes rush transcript] Italian Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini is touring countries that neighbor Iraq in an effort to
free two Italian aid workers who were abducted on September 7. The
women, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari were kidnapped from their
Baghdad office in broad daylight, along with Iraqi aid workers Raad
Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam. Two groups have taken
responsibility for the kidnappings but no video or photos have been
released. A deadline set by one of the groups, The Islamic Jihad
Organization, expired Monday night with no word on their fate. The
group said in a statement posted on the internet Sunday that they
would be killed in 24 hours unless Italy withdrew its troops from Iraq.
With more than 2,700 troops, Italy has the third largest military
contingent in Iraq. Prime Minister Sylvio Berlesconni has said he will
not pull out.
Meanwhile, numerous Islamic groups and scholars have publicly
appealed for the release of the women, as has Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat. The head of the International Association of Islamic
scholars issued a statement earlier this week calling on Muslims to
fight the US in Iraq, but to release the women, saying they have
nothing to do with the occupation.
A Bridge to Baghdad is the longest standing non-governmental
organization operating in Iraq. It began working in the country in
1992, a year after the so-called Gulf War. In all of its time in the
country, it has opposed the sanctions against Iraq, all of the US
attacks on the country as well as the invasion and current occupation.
Yesterday, Democracy Now! obtained an interview recorded in
February with Simona Toretta. It was recorded by filmmaker and
activist Francis Anderson. Here is Simona Torretta describing the
night she arrived in Baghdad at the beginning of the US invasion.
# Ornella Sangiovanni, is a coordinator of the Italian humanitarian
group, A Bridge to Baghdad. Until the beginning of the invasion, she
was the head of the organization’s anti-sanctions campaign. She has
worked with A Bridge to Baghdad since 1996.
AMY GOODMAN: Yesterday, Democracy Now! obtained an interview
recorded in February with Simona Torretta It was recorded by
filmmaker and activist Francis Anderson. Here is Simona Torretta
describing the night she arrived in Baghdad at the beginning of the
U.S. invasion.
SIMONA TORRETTA: We reached Baghdad at 9:00 or 10:00. And
when we reached Baghdad, there was the bombings. It was first
impact was very hard. Very hard. I couldn’t recognize Baghdad at all.
FRANCIS ANDERSON: Were there bombings happening as you
were driving in?
SIMONA TORRETTA: Yes. Yes. Me, last time that I was in Baghdad
was one month ago. I found everything changed. Everything
changed. I couldn’t recognize Baghdad this time. All of the shops
totally closed. The city empty, dark, smoke everywhere. When I met
my friends, they were just so surprised to see me, you know? They
said, „Why are you coming here? It’s so dangerous for you. Go back
in Italy. What are you doing here? Why you came? Are you crazy?‰ I
say, okay, I cannot stay in Italy. I decided to come here because it’s
part of my life.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Simona Torretta speaking in February of
this year. She is now being held hostage after being abducted
September 7. In the interview, she also talked about conversations
she had with Iraqis over her years of work in Iraq. We’re going to go
to the second excerpt, but first, Ornella Sangiovanni joins us. She‚s
coordinator of the Italian humanitarian group, A Bridge to Baghdad.
We only have 30 seconds before we play this final clip, Ornella, what
are you asking people to do, as we speak you to in Rome?
ORNELLA SANGIOVANNI: Well, what we are asking people to do is
first of all to always remember that there are four hostages, that there
are two Italian aid workers and two Iraqis. We are concerned for the
lives of all four hostages and are asking people never forget that we
have four people that have to go back safely to their families and
loved ones.
AMY GOODMAN: And on that note, we’re he going to play the last
excerpt of the interview with Simona Torretta before she was taken
hostage.
SIMONA TORRETTA: When I talk with Iraqi people, they have
always the same answer: „We are tired. We are tired of fight. We are
tired of war. We want to be in peace. We just want to have peace in
this country. We will never fight between us. We are too tired. We
don’t have the energy. We don’t have the resource to fight. How I can
fight if I don’t have money, I don’t have money for my family, I don’t
have food for my family.‰ So, the main problem in the country now is
the job, the occupation. There are many employees. So they are
fighting. I mean, they are fighting against the C.P.A. because they are
asking the C.P.A. to respect the responsibility to give jobs to the
people, not to the American companies. To employees, the Iraqis in
the reconstruction of the Iraqi country.
AMY GOODMAN: Simona Torretta, one of the four hostages taken on
September 7. If you want more information and also there is a petition
online to free them, you can go to freeourfriends.blogspolt.com. We’ll
have it on our website at democracynow.org.
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here
https://store.democracynow.org/?pid=&show= 04-09-14
for our new online ordering or call 1 (800) 881-2359.
http://democracynow.org/ Wednesday, September 15th, 2004
Fate of Kidnapped Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers
Remains Unknown
As tens of thousands people march in Italy to call for the release of
the two Italian and two Iraqi aid workers abducted last week, we play
an extended excerpt of an interview recorded in February 2004 with
Simona Toretta, one of the two Italian women. [includes rush
transcript] As the fate of the two Italian and two Iraqi humanitarian
workers abducted last week hangs in the balance, tens of thousands
of people joined in a torch-lit procession through Rome last night to
call for their release.
Organizers said 80,000 people had turned out in support of the
hostages. Children and adults marched in silence under rainbow-
colored banners and slogans calling for peace in Iraq.
The women, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari were kidnapped from
their Baghdad office on September 7th in broad daylight, along with
Iraqi aid workers Raad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam.
An unprecedented number of Islamic groups and scholars have
publicly appealed for the release of the women, including Islamic
Jihad and Hizbollah, as has Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In
Qatar, the exiled leader of Algeria’s dissolved Islamic Salvation Front,
said he had started a hunger strike to the death to demand their
release saying, “This is for the freedom of those who should be free.”
A Bridge to Baghdad is the longest standing non-governmental
organization operating in Iraq. It began working in the country in
1992, a year after the so-called Gulf War. In all of its time in the
country, it has opposed the sanctions against Iraq, all of the US
attacks on the country as well as the invasion and current occupation.
Yesterday, on Democracy Now! we played an excerpt of an interview
recorded in February with Simona Toretta. It was recorded by
filmmaker and activist Francis Anderson. Today we play a longer
excerpt of that interview.
* Simona Torretta, being interviewed in February 2004. Courtesy of
Francis Anderson.
AMY GOODMAN: Today we bring you part two of the interview with
Simona Torretta, which was recorded last February by filmmaker and
activist, Francis Anderson. She talks about her organization, A Bridge
to Baghdad.
SIMONA TORRETTA: A Bridge to Baghdad at the moment is working
in two areas, one in Basra, the other one is Baghdad. In Basra, we
are particularly focusing our activities in the water and sanitation
sector, and that means rehabilitation of water treatment plants,
compact unit in the village surrounding Basra. So, the aim of the
project is to provide safe water for the people in the village. We are
adding at this project some elements of health education. That
means, we go to the village and we make some advocacy and give
some general and basic information out to prevent the gastrointestinal
diseases. And just some [inaudible] campaign, advocacy campaign.
In Baghdad, we will start a very important project for the replacement
of the national library in Baghdad, you know, the one that was looted
immediately after the war in the middle of April. So I think this is a
very important activities because it’s focus on the culture, and here, I
mean, you have a very long history of intellectual — there is a very
long and important tradition about culture and literature, so we want
even for this reason to support them in rebuilding one of the symbols
of this country. When I talk with Iraqi people, they have always the
same answer: „We are tired. We are tired of fight. We are tired of war.
We want to be in peace. We just want to have peace in this country.
We will never fight between us. We are too tired. We don’t have the
energy. We don’t have the resource to fight. How I can fight if I don’t
have money, I don’t have money for my family, I don’t have food for
my family.‰ So, the main problem in the country now is the job, the
occupation. There are many employees. So they are fighting. I mean,
they are fighting against the C.P.A. because they are asking the
C.P.A. to respect the responsibility to give jobs to the people, not to
the American companies. To employees, the Iraqis in the
reconstruction of the Iraqi country.
FRANCIS ANDERSON: What is the first time that you were here?
SIMONA TORRETTA: The first time is a long time ago. It‚s almost ten
years ago. I came here in 1994, but it was a short visit with some
friends. I came here just for curiosity and I was impressed at that
time. It was in 1994, yes, the time of the sanctions. I was impressed
about the situation that I found in the country.
FRANCIS ANDERSON: What did you see?
SIMONA TORRETTA: The poverty, the lack of materials, medicines,
every things. I feel impressed about the power of the sanctions. I
didn’t know about this. I was impressed when I went in the hospital
and I visited some children. And we looking at disease, all of this
disease, the degrees after the Gulf War. Because of the use of
depleted uranium and other chemical weapons. I was impressed on
these such things. I was young at that time. It was may first travel
outside from Europe. So, when I came back, I spent two, three years
without do nothing for Iraq. But I was thinking all the time about Iraq,
about Iraq, about Baghdad. So then I met for chance A Bridge to
Baghdad, Un Pont Per. I went there one day just to see what they
were doing, which kind of work, and to introduce myself. And from
that time I start to collaborate with them. I was volunteer for two
years.
FRANCIS ANDERSON: What year was that?
SIMONA TORRETTA: Volunteer?
FRANCIS ANDERSON: What year was that?
SIMONA TORRETTA: It was 1996 until 1998. So, in the second time I
came here, 1998 with A Bridge to, and then I’m in here for six months
for making a survey about the university, the lack of documentation
as a consequence of the sanctions, because during the period of
sanction, no journals, no reference, no books you can find the update.
And then I came several times. I start to — I become [inaudible] for
Iraq. So [inaudible] 2002, I came before two times in 2002 with
university delegation professors. They came here to assemblage
collaboration with the Iraqi universities in different fields, medicines,
sociology, cultures and collaboration. Then I came here in 2003, in
January, before – yeah, January. I come back in Italy February, and I
decide to leave the 21 of March when the war started. And I just
arrived here on 23, after two days of the war. So we reached
Baghdad at 9:00 or 10:00. And when we reached Baghdad, there was
the bombings. It was first impact was very hard. Very hard. I couldn’t
recognize Baghdad at all.
FRANCIS ANDERSON: Were there bombings happening as you
were driving in?
SIMONA TORRETTA: Yes. Yes. Me, last time that I was in Baghdad
was one month ago. I found everything changed. Everything
changed. I couldn’t recognize Baghdad this time. All of the shops
totally closed. The city empty, dark, smoke everywhere. When I met
my friends, they were just so surprised to see me, you know? They
said, „Why are you coming here? It’s so dangerous for you. Go back
in Italy. What are you doing here? Why you came? Are you crazy?‰ I
say, okay, I cannot stay in Italy. I decided to come here because it’s
part of my life.
AMY GOODMAN: Simona Torretta, who along with Simona Pari and
the Iraqi aid workers, Raad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz Bassam
were abducted from their office September 7. We continue to await
word on what has happened to them. Tens of thousands of people
marched yesterday in Italy calling for their release. This is Democracy