He is sure that this is the case. Muayed, a 41 year-old Chaldean Catholic born and raised in Baghdad, spends most of his day speaking with people while working as transporter. He says he views the killing of hostages as confirmation that foreigners are involved.
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\u201cPersonally I, like so many other Muslim Iraqis with whom I\u2019ve had conversations about the killing of hostages, am disappointed and scandalized. It\u2019s impossible that such killings were done by Iraqis.\u201d
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When interviewed by telephone Muayed Hayat Shlimon told AsiaNews about his everyday life in Baghdad.
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Muayed is married with 3 children ages 10, 7 and six months. He shares a home with his brother Samir, who is also married and has 4 children. The Shlimons believe they are more fortunate than others. Unlike many other drivers, Muayed owns his own van. After years of work \u201ceveryone knows him\u201d and, thus, Muayed says he always has enough work. Meanwhile many others \u201cwho worked for the state or were employed in businesses still have trouble finding work.\u201d
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Muayed is a simple person: he heads out for work at 6.30 in the morning and returns home at 6.30 in the evening, since it\u2019s \u201cdangerous to stay out there in the dark,\u201d he says.
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\u201cOnce we used to go out to dinner or simply visit our friends and relatives in the evening. But now such a lifestyle is no longer possible,\u201d he said.
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\u201cWe talk to each other on the phone \u201cas if we didn\u2019t live in the same country,\u201d he told AsiaNews. Muayed said that life in the post-Hussein Iraq is full of \u201cuncertainty and fear\u201d.
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\u201cI served in Saddam Hussein\u2019s army \u2013I was forced to \u2013during a 11-year term in the national guard. Back then we used to say: \u2018Go to the frontlines and you never know if you\u2019ll make it back alive\u2019, he said. \u201cNow every time I leave home I wave goodbye to my family as it were the last time I see them.\u201d
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The fear Iraqis have is that of being caught amid bombs, and explosions, criss-crossing sniper fire which can erupt at a moment\u2019s notice. Like all Iraqis, the Shlimons are afraid to send their children to school by themselves. \u201cLuckily it\u2019s nearby. In the end children get kidnapped anyway. We can\u2019t even let them play in front of our own home like in old days,\u201d Muayed says.
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And yet life goes on. Compared to a few months ago, Muayed says \u201cwe now have electricity, potable water and can fill our natural gas tanks. Sure, we don\u2019t eat chicken or meat every day, but the shops and markets are filled with everything (you need).\u201d
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Muayed\u2019s wife never leaves home \u2013not out of tradition, but out of fear. Hence her husband must do the shopping since, as he says, \u201cwhy should both of us have to risk our lives? I have to be outside for work, anyway.\u201d
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A new phenomenon is that of \u201cmedicines sold at market stands, which are often expired because they were stolen a year ago from warehouses during all the chaos. Or they\u2019re no good anymore, since they were left outside to sit in the sun (for too long),\u201d Muayed explains.
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Muayed is certain that, in terms of the country\u2019s many religions living together and getting along, \u201cWe all feel like Iraqis in the end. Us Chaldean Catholics have an excellent relationship with Sunni and Shiite (Muslims).
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\u201cWe have a high opinion of and respect for one another. We were all raised together,\u201d he said. Once upon a time, Muayed says, \u201cthey called us \u2018crusaders\u2019. Now, for them, the crusaders are the foreigners. We can pray out in the open and we have no fears at all in this sense.\u201d
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Muayed, whose name in Arabic means \u201csupporter\u201d, made an appeal to the world at the end of the interview: \u201cHave mercy on our people. After years of suffering and war, we want our own government. Yet foreign troops must leave only after having guaranteed the nation\u2019s security. Until now little has been done to ensure the safety of civilians. There are still many weapons in circulation, stolen and left behind by the former regime. No one has taken the trouble to collect and confiscate them.\u201d
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Muayed denied rumors about Iraqi Christians leaving the country. \u201cOn the contrary, many Christians are returning from abroad. This is our homeland. We are Iraqis and we get on well with Muslims. We are here to stay.\u201d
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