- The painted mural of Saddam Hussein surrounded by his
ninja-dressed
- Fedayeen had been thrown into the gutter and the gates
of the compound
- flung wide open.
-
- For a generation the gates of this camp belonging to
President Saddam's
- fanatical militia had been kept tightly shut, the things
that went on
- inside only to be told in whispers by the people of Nasiriyah,
or else
- experienced first-hand by those unlucky enough to be
brought here.
-
- But yesterday the white-walled compound lay in blackened
ruins and its open
- gates led the way to some of its awful secrets - torture,
execution,
- ruthless support of President Saddam and even, it would
seem, the
- imprisonment of American prisoners of war.
-
- Yesterday's visit by The Independent was the first time
an outsider had
- investigated the compound in Nasiriyah, and possibly
any Fedayeen base
- inside Iraq. What lay inside the metal gates was a staggering
scene and
- indicative of the way President Saddam has used these
militia - officially
- under the control of his son Uday - to maintain his grip
over the people of
- Iraq.
-
- The Fedayeen have been President Saddam's most fanatical
supporters since
- they were established in the early 1990s. Filling a space
between the
- security services and the Republican Guard, Saddam has
used them in the
- current conflict to support and strengthen units of the
regular army in
- strategic locations. The Fedayeen have been responsible
for some of the
- most deadly attacks on US forces.
-
- They have also been used for internal repression and
to spread fear among
- the civilian population, their black outfits synonymous
with terror.
-
- Those black overalls lay scattered around the compound
floor, with a number
- of black helmets of a style that suggested they had been
designed for Darth
- Vader. They looked ridiculous lying on the floor among
the broken glass,
- but one wondered how terrifying they must have looked
when worn by the men
- who had left them here and then fled.
-
- It was a uniform of a different sort that most disturbed
the members of the
- US Marines human exploitation team - the unit searching
for some of the
- American soldiers seized by the Iraqis in Nasiriyah -
who arrived at the
- compound yesterday. One prisoner, Jessica Lynch, was
rescued by special
- forces soldiers earlier this week, but many are still
missing.
-
- The soldiers were handed a US camouflage jacket bearing
the name of an army
- sergeant. The officers would not confirm the sergeant
was one of the
- missing soldiers but they took the jacket away.
-
- "I was not expecting to find anything," said
Sgt Robert Rivera, a marine
- who found the jacket while on sentry duty at the compound.
"This is our
- brothers and sisters. I am thinking what they went through.
I don't know if
- they were here, I just don't know."
-
- It seems very likely that some of the US prisoners were
indeed held here,
- if only briefly. The remains of two burnt-out trucks
belonging to the
- logistical unit that was ambushed by the Iraqis stood
on one side of the
- compound. There was a room in the far right corner of
the compound that
- appeared to have been used as a cell.
-
- The metal door had several sliding bolts and there was
a small hatch that
- could be opened to see inside.
-
- The air of the small, dark room was fetid and the floor
was littered with
- some filthy mattresses and some torn clothes. A plastic
bucket on the floor
- may once have held food but was now full of cockroaches.
There was a small
- hole in one wall, covered with a cloth, that must have
served as the
- lavatory.
-
- "It looks as though there has been someone here
recently," said one of the
- marines. He looked shocked and disgusted. The dormitories
presumably used
- by the Fedayeen were on the other side of the com- pound
and were spotless
- by comparison. There was no proof that the Fedayeen had
committed torture
- in the compound, but there were some suspicious signs.
Close to the cell
- was a room with a wall in which several holes had been
made. Strips of wire
- ran through the holes and had someone been forced to
sit down with their
- back against the wall, the wire could have been used
to secure them. A
- number of loose electricity wires dangled from the walls
and ceiling, but
- these could have been the result of the bombing.
-
- One man insisted horrors had taken place here. Mather
Ahmed Jabbah, who
- lived near by, led the way to the centre of the square
and raised his hand
- above his head before bringing it down in a karate chop.
"People were
- executed here with swords," he said, in broken English.
"I saw it happen.
- They used to make a video of the killings and send them
to Uday."
-
- It was a chilling story, if impossible to prove. But
on the way out of the
- compound one could not help noticing the trademark curved
sword insignia of
- the Fedayeen that were fixed to the gates.
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=394159
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