Friday, 6 May 2005

Chandler stayed in Baghdad as backup person while Pritchard, Provencher, and Fox traveled to Fallujah with members of MPT.

Team traveled to Fallujah with MPTers to do a symbolic action. CPTers and the Shiite MPTers worked together with Suni Muslims from Fallujah to clean up some of the destruction from recent US attacks. It was very well received and considered a huge success. SEE MAY 6 RELEASE

Saturday 7 May 2005

An Iraqi friend called with the welcomed news that his brother-in-law had already been released.

Matthew Chandler left Iraq to return home to friends and family as well as begin a speaking tour on Iraq. Joe Carr arrived safely. He commented that his image of the situation in Baghdad was less like being in an active war zone than he’s expected. Having spent considerable time in Palestine, he commented that the military presence he saw today was less that he was accustomed to seeing there. Provencher took him on a walking tour of the neighborhood and the team made him feel right at home by assigning him the task of cleaning the dinner dishes.

Sunday 8 May 2005

The team entertained multiple visitors and attended the evening mass at Saint Rafael’s Cathedral in the neighborhood of the CPT flat. Carr was surprised to see that the church had barricades and armed guards, added in August 2004 attacks on Iraqi Christians.

Monday 9 May 2005

Pritchard facilitated a continuing education inservice for the team.

Carr and Provencher went to visit media outlets in the neighborhood. One street is completely blocked off, with a checkpoint manned by armed security guards. The BBC, Reuters, and New York Times are all in the neighborhood. The two passed a parked SUV that was riddled with bullet holes and shrapnel gashes. Both the BBC and Reuters were happy to know of CPT’s work and potential for alerting the media to stories.

Carr took several pictures of the Palestine-Sheraton compound. As they left the complex, a soldier approached and asked them to delete the photos. “We have snipers on the roof and they saw you,” he said. He went on to wish the CPTers well and allowed Carr to keep most of the photos he took.

Provencher spent the night with Iraqi friends. An Iraqi Police car patrolled the neighborhood where she stayed. Gunfire broke out at 10:30 pm, while she and the entire family were sleeping out on the roof. The four children pulled the covers over their head and giggled in nervousness.

Tuesday 10 May 2005

The team heard the blast of a suicide car bomber had attempted to attack a military convey on Sadoon Street. The blast killed at least six civilians.

Fox, Pritchard and Carr had an appointment with a UN human rights official in the Green Zone. Their driver had to use a number of back routes in order to reach the area of the Green Zone as a result of the car bomb incident. The bridge across the Tigris was closed to civilian vehicular traffic so the team waked across. Many of the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi pedestrians seemed quite surprised to see unarmed Westerners walking about. They reached the UN checkpoint and waited for their escort. They went through six checkpoints that were staffed by five different security forces including troops from the Republic of Georgia and from the Fiji Islands.

The UN official apologized for the extremely complex procedures and noted that he is currently not allowed to ever leave the Green Zone. When he flies out of the country he is taken by helicopter to the Baghdad airport one day ahead and spends the night in a tent compound that mainly houses contracted private security personnel. He thanked the team for all their help over the last year in making connections for him with Iraqi human rights organizations and individuals. He said the UN is looking to increase its presence in Iraq but security concerns are so high that any new offices will probably only be staffed by Iraqis not internationals.

When they were ready to leave Fox, Pritchard and Carr decided to try and walk from the Green Zone back to the CPT flat (about one mile). They pushed aside some concertina wire that blocked the steps from the bridge to their street and got as far as the outer perimeter of the Sheraton/Palestine complex. They were stopped by private security guards and while they were waiting for an official from the security company to clear them for entry they passed out the “magic sheets” that the team gives to Iraqis explaining CPT’s presence. One guard seemed fairly positive but another kept saying, “Were is your security? Where are your guns?”

The team said good-by to Pritchard as he prepared to journey into Palestine to spend two weeks with the Hebron team. Carr prepared a Palestinian dish “Shuckshook” for his final meal with the team. Provencher went to spend the night with a family she has become very close to.

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 CPT projects may be viewed at www.cpt.org/gallery