by David Milne
Christian Peacemaker Teams

Eight lanes of traffic streamed toward Najaf. In cars and minivans, on buses and flatbed trucks, tens of thousands of men, young and old, sang and danced. As they passed the taxi carrying CPT’ers Peggy Gish, Greg Rollins, and David Milne, many smiled and waved “Hello”. Thousands more walked. They followed the path of the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani who had passed by not more than an hour ago.

All had responded to Sistani’s request that people gather in Najaf to support his attempt to bring a peaceful solution to the bloody conflict and to reclaim their holy site. Shortly before, Sheikh Abdullah Mehdi, the leader of the shrine in Kerbala, spoke to CPT and its partner, Iraqi Human Rights Watch-Kerbala (IHRW-K). “Sistani did not issue a fatwa (a religious order) but an invitation.” The Sheikh thanked CPT for its support of this call.

The CPT’ers heard occasional shots as they approached the street leading to the checkpoint for entry to the old city. At an intersection, they learned the Iraqi police had closed the checkpoint so they returned to a lot two hundred meters away.

The representative of IHRW-K told the group that Sistani now asked supporters to go home. Sistani had entered the old city and begun talks with the opposing forces. Iraqi police had killed four Iraqis who had tried to pass the nearby checkpoint less than two hours ago. The representative and his group were going home now and CPT followed his lead. Just after their vehicles left the lot, streams of bullets whistled nearby and ricocheted off concrete. CPT’ers heard continuous gunfire as they left the area.

In a place of safety, the representative told CPT that though he felt sadness that the Iraqi police had killed his countrymen, he also felt joy, hope, and confidence. The Iraqi people had made a new beginning. They turned out in massive numbers and behaved peacefully to help end the violence.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical violence-reduction program with roots in the historic peace churches. Teams of trained peace workers live in areas of lethal conflict around the world. CPT has been present in Iraq since October, 2002. To learn more about CPT, please visit www.cpt.org.
Photos of our projects may be viewed at www.cpt.org/gallery