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Baghdad/Adhamiya, Iraq - It became common in Baghdad that if a Sunni family lived in a Shia neighborhood they may be forced to leave and vice versa. Many families were forced by militias to leave their homes if they lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly made up of the other sect. Some of them lost a family member by the hands of militias which pushed them to leave their neighborhood or fled to a nearby country such as Syria or Jordan. The Iraqi government has been working on assisting some of these displaced families to return to their houses either by providing them an amount of money, or utilizing the growing Iraqi military and police to provide security in the neighborhoods they used to live in. So far the efforts of the Iraqi government have yielded only small results. It remains to be seen whether the current security situation will remain stable. Due to ongoing worries about their security, thousands of families are still living far from their neighborhood and many continue to reside outside of Iraq. One of the many areas hit hard by internal displacement is Adhamiya. More than 1000 families have been displaced from this neighborhood under the threat of death. Most of them were Shia but some of them were Sunni. The Shia families there were given the choice to become Sunni or die. For some Sunni families the reasons were different. Perhaps one of their family members worked with the Iraqi government or the United States, in some cases simply working with any foreign NGO may cause displacement. Organizations such as the Muslim Scholar's Association and the Sahwa or "Awakening" councils are endeavoring to find their own solutions to the problem in Adhamiya. The Sahwa Councils are attempting to provide security and eliminate the control of other militias or insurgents within Adhamiya, in order to provide a safe place for displaced or threatened families and encourage them to return home. The current situation in Baghdad appears to be better than it has been between 2006 and 2007, but continues to be haunted by the worries of its residents. After years of violence and uncertainty, it seems that many people simply don t have much faith that their government or other groups, whether the United States, Sahwa Forces, or others will be able to keep the peace. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts and DVDs to spread the word!

Damascus, Syria - Maybe one of the of most difficult situations that an Iraqi could be in is to be gay, the Iraqi society in general discriminate against the gay and transsexual people, normally they consider them as people who left their gender and changed for sexual want. Even though most gay people of Iraq have managed to live their lives, being born gay is almost the same as being born with an assurance of death. Most Iraqis don't accept that homosexuality is something you're born with, or which is assigned by your genes. Due to the Iraqi cultural and religious beliefs, homosexuality is forbidden and considered a mortal sin, and in many cases the penalty of death is assigned as the solution for it. Some of the Iraqi homosexuals used to live in the Karrada neighborhood, practicing there life normally but still in secret. Although before the war as well they could not show that they are gay, due to the risk of being attacked verbally by the neighbors or the people they live with. No Iraqi organization or NGO was taking care of gay Iraqis before or after the war. Many of them were killed by the hands of militias after the war, some militias were considering killing gay people as a great thing you can do to satisfy God. Because of this many homosexuals and transsexuals tried to leave Iraq, and some managed to flee to countries with less violence against gays, or to Europe. International organizations such as Amnesty International are working on helping the gay and lesbian Iraqi people, other Iraqis outside the country have created Iraqi organizations that are trying to help gay Iraqis like the Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender), this organization used to have about 40 members in Iraq but after the attacks and raids on these groups in Najaf, Kerbala, and other areas by militias these organizations lost most of their contacts inside Iraq. The three Iraqis now living in Syria interviewed by Alive in Baghdad are just a few people affected by prejudice and hatred aimed at gay and transsexual Iraqis and those who dare offer them assistance. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider making a recurring donation, or one-time donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts or DVDs to spread the word!

Iraq, Baghdad/Abu Dsheer - This memorial day, as citizens of the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, are remembering the fallen soldiers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as previous conflicts, Alive in Baghdad asks you to remember the civilian fallen as well. It's been estimated that 1.3 million women have been widowed in Iraq due to war, ranging from the Iran-Iraq war to the most recent conflict which is still going on today. Although its difficult to be certain if this number is accurate, or to know just how many have been widowed in the most recent conflict, Iraq's acting Minister of Womens' Affairs, Narmeen Othman, suggests that at least 70,000 women have been widowed due to the most recent war. However, these numbers are disputed widely, and while a government committee on women's affairs has claimed there are just 1.3 million widows in Iraq, others have reported drastically different numbers. One source in the Ministry of Women's Affairs told an NBC staffer in 2007 that there were 3 million widows in Iraq due to the various wars of the last two decades. Despite this already shocking number, the United Nations news service, IRIN, reported in 2006 that there are 8 million widows nation-wide, with upwards of 330,000 in Baghdad alone. To put that in perspective, if true, it would mean that as much as 6-7 percent of Baghdad's population may be made up of widows, suggesting that the number of children with only one parent left is likely to be double, or triple this, if not more. The primary cause for women to be widowed today is sectarian violence and terrorism. Areas such as Abu Dsheer, Hawr Rajab, and other tumultuous districts that have seen some of the worst internecine fighting understandably have some of the most prevalent populations of widows and orphans. Abu Dsheer has been considered one of the bloodiest conflict areas in Baghdad, due to the influence militias have held there. Abu Dsheer is located in the south of Baghdad near Al-Saha neighborhood. Since 2004, Abu Dsheer was controlled by Al-Qa'eda on one side and the Sadr Movement on the other side, Many people was assassinated due to their sect whether they were Sunni or Shi'a. The Iraqi government tried many times along with Coalition forces to restore security in Abu Dsheer with no success. In 2006 there were many bombings taking place in Abu Dsheer, in addition to the battles between the Iraqi or Coalition forces and the militias. The civilian casualties were very high in Abu Dsheer, and the families living there faced grave financial difficulties due to the bad security conditions which prevent them from going to work or looking for jobs within Abu Dsheer. There are NGOs trying to help the people living there, by providing them with medical and financial aid according to their abilities. NGOs such as Al-Tathamon Social Organization (Social Solidarity Organization) are trying to fix some of the problems in areas like Abu Dsheer. The Organization was created on the 10th of July 2007 in order to help families or individuals whom having medical or financial problems. They also help the families whom lost there provider, like the father of that family or the mother. The Social Solidarity Organization has offices located in several areas such as Kadhimiya, Sadr City, Al-Husseiniya and Al-Nahrawan, as well as Abu Dsheer. Due to the difficulty these organization have finding funding, many such as the Social Solidarity Organization and Al-Yateem Charity, which help the women interviewed by Alive in Baghdad, receive support from the Sadr Movement. Although they claim to have sought financial support from the Iraqi government, both the organization, and the widows interviewed by Alive in Baghdad say they have not received any support from the government. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider making a recurring donation, or one-time donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts or DVDs to spread the word!

Baghdad/Adhamiya, Iraq - After Al-Qa'eda controlled several places in Iraq such as Fallujah, Ramadi, and several neighborhoods in the west of Baghdad, there were many atrocities committed by Al-Qa'eda. This caused the people living in those areas to vehemently reject them. Some of the actions done by Al-Qa'eda were to ask the young men not to wear short trousers or colored T-shirts, or any other shirt with English writing. As for women in these regions, they demanded that they wear a headscarf, or a veil, and never go out of their houses without covering their head, and those who didn't obey the strict instructions were facing the threat of being beheaded, killed, or otherwise assassinated by the several militias that were controlled by Al-Qa'eda. The Sahwa Councils were first created in Anbar after some Iraqi tribes agreed to work together with the US forces against the actions of Al-Qa'eda, and in order to wipe out all the elements of Al-Qa'eda in their areas. The first Sahwa council was created under the leadership of Abu Risha. He claimed to organize the first Sahwa council in Anbar against Al-Qa'eda. After Abu Risha's example, other Iraqi tribes were inspired by his work and created Sahwa councils in their areas in order to eliminate Al-Qa'eda cells in their neighborhoods. Some of the areas where Sahwa councils were formed are Mosul, Kirkuk, Diyala, Tikrit, Hawr Rajab, and several neighborhoods in Baghdad, such as Ameriya, Adhamiya, Al-Khadra'a, and Ghazaliya. And what made those councils more dedicated to fighting Al-Qa'eda was the assassination of Abu Risha because they started to consider him a symbol of the fight Al-Qa'eda. The Sahwa Council in Adhamiya After assassinating a huge number of men in Adhamiya due to the things they wear or who they belong, few people agreed on creating a Sahwa council in Adhamiya in late 2007, the Sahwa council was lead by Reyad Al-Samarra'ie at the beginning, whom was assassinated by two suicide bombers in the north of Baghdad which killed 14 Sahwa members along with Reyad Al-Samarra'ie. After the murder of Al-Samarra'ie Abu Al-Abed was took the place of A-Samarra'ie as the leader of the Sahwa Council in Adhamiya, some families claimthat the situation calmed down in Adhamiya after the creation of the Sahwa council.

Baghdad, Iraq - The Faili Kurds are one of the most oppressed groups of Kurds. Like other Kurds, they were abused during Saddam Hussein's regime. Statistics from the United Nations show that more than 450 thousand Faili Kurds were deported to Iran in the 1980s and nearly 10 thousand Faili Kurds between the ages of 13 and 30 years old are still missing until the current moment. A large number of this Kurdish minority fled out of Iraq to a number of other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. They were fleeing the bad circumstances they endured under several governments that ruled Iraq. Now, despite the fall of Saddam Hussein and the work of many citizens toward establishing a democratic Iraq, the Faili Kurds still face several difficulties. Among others, until now, they did not receive the same rights as other Iraqis. The Charitable Liberated Faili Kurds Organization works in Baghdad to attempt to redress these wrongs. They work in particular to support displaced Faili Kurds to enable them to return to their homes in Baghdad and elsewhere. They also advocate for the approval of full citizenship for Failis. Due to the inadequate social services available to Failis and other poor Iraqis, they also run a medical clinic on Palestine St. in Baghdad which is available to all needy Iraqis. For more information about Faili Kurds, please see this site ostensibly run by Faili Kurds, or you can read a range of research on Wikipedia. Global Security also has a breakdown of differences between Kurdish groups, or you can read a discussion of Kurdish identity and the place of Faili Kurds. Lastly another Faili Kurd describes the meaning of being Faili. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts to spread the word!

Baghdad/Sadr City, Iraq - Broken sewers continue to be an issue all over Iraq and Baghdad, and in many neighborhoods are in similar disrepair to those in Shama iya. However, in some parts of Sadr City and elsewhere, citizens are getting support from local municipal councils to repair and replace the sewer system with something more modern.The project in Sadr City to improve the quality of their sewer system involves completely removing the old system, and performing a complete renovation. There were not only problems with the system do to damage from the ongoing conflict in Iraq, but previously there were long-standing capacity issues, and the sewer system is not able to handle all of the homes depending on it.The ongoing sanitation problems are exacerbating risks of cholera, among other diseases. Although at least one outbreak appears to have been successfully contained, with sanitation becoming more of a luxury as the conflict has dragged on. The Iraqi government has declared 2008 to be the year of services, unfortunately, Iraqi citizens seem to have their doubts about the extent to which the government can adequately improve services. ThinkProgress has a poll which paints a dark picture of Iraqi opinions about services of all kinds.At least in sectors 73 and 74, in Sadr City, the sewer system appears to be on its way toward complete renovation. If the Iraqis who spoke with Alive in Baghdad are typical, there is a strong interest and willingness to take the steps necessary to rebuild and improve Iraq s flagging infrastructure.***If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts to spread the word!

Baghdad, Iraq - Women in Iraq are enduring great hardships. Since the fall of Saddam, despite attempts to improve women's rights, many feel their rights are slipping. Under Saddam women were considered to be equal under the law. With the collapse of the government after the invasion in 2003, militias have gained greater and greater ground. The militias have not only been involved in ongoing criminal activity, many have ties to Islamist groups, such as the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, or Al-Qa'eda in Iraq. These groups in particular have targeted women, preventing them from working, and enforcing strict dress codes. This week Hayder Kamal interviews an activist for women's rights who discusses her work improving women's knowledge of their rights. During 2004 and 2005 she worked to encourage women to vote and understand the constitution and the importance of voting and being involved in political life. She, like many members of civil society, reports being targeted repeatedly and nearly killed for her work. Today she is working secretly and her organization continues, but less publicly than before. This has become a necessity with the continuing presence of dire threats to women. The spread of democracy in Iraq has so far assisted the rise of Islamist groups, and has greatly hindered the progression of women's rights. For women to live with security, access to the same rights as men, and equal protection under the law, is going to take more than a new constitution, forced imposition of democracy, and a quota system in the parliament. As the ongoing insecurity and instability in Iraq enters its sixth year, the situation of women sees few signs of improving. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can now purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts to spread the word!

Baghdad, Iraq - It may go without saying that Iraq's passport offices are crowded and their employees overworked. With so many Iraqis leaving the country, passports are at a premium. In 2006 we reported on the difficulties Iraqis were having obtaining passports, and their desperation to flee the country. There are many issues affecting the availability of passports, from the machines and manpower to print them, to the corruption running rampant in the application process The difficulties with Iraq's passport process are not new. Since 2003 there have been recurring problems with criminal influence in Iraqi passports. According to __ the Nationality and Passports Directorate is hard at work solving the capacity problems widely reported in 2007. Although Iraq is attempting to curb counterfeiters by upgrading Iraq's old passports, the changeover to the "G" series passports further exacerbated capacity issues throughout 2007. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won't find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. We'll soon be offering t-shirts for sale to help spread the word, and you can already purchase DVDs from our site!

Baghdad, Iraq - Sadr City - In October 2007 the US Military claims it raided 3 locations in pursuit of a Shi'a masterminding a kidnapping gang. Iraqi civilians in the area claimed differently. The Coalition forces claim 49 criminals were killed and no civilians were injured in the raid. Iraqi Police and hospital officials reported only 15 deaths including three children. Another report from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior claimed there were 13 killed and 69 injured. In other reports, the shadowy "Task Force 88" or "Task Force Black" was cited as being involved in this raid. The report from Long War Journal suggested that they were involved due to the United States' claim that the raid targeted the so-called "Special Groups," off-shoots of the Mahdi Army who have defied Muqtada Sadr's ceasefire order and are being supplied by Iran. In Esquire, Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that Task Force 88 was sent into Somalia seeking Al-Qa'eda operatives, with orders to "Kill anyone still alive and leave no unidentified bodies behind." Iraqi civilians in Sadr City expressed anger, frustration, and confusion regarding the raid. Ali Al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the Iraqi Government, says that Prime Minister Maliki called General Petraeus to lodge a complaint, and attacked the United States for killing civilians and using excessive force. None of the civilians who spoke with Alive in Baghdad could explain the reason for the attacks, they claimed there were no fighters for the Mahdi Army in their area, and implored the international media to come and examine the neighborhood themselves. Alive in Baghdad correspondent Nabeel Kamal witnessed no evidence of militia activity in the area while producing this story. The US and Iraqi governments have agreed to investigate the incident further, but as this goes to publish, Alive in Baghdad could not determine any new details or information uncovered by the investigation. *** Alive in Baghdad is running low on funds. Although we are receiving increasing support from monthly subscribers, we need many more of you to help! We depend on you the viewer for our support. Please, if you value this type of in-depth visual coverage that you can find nowhere else, become a paying subscriber today. Make a donation, or purchase a DVD!

Baghdad, Iraq - A few months back, Iraq's Ministry of Planning reported that Iraq's unemployment rate had dropped to the uninspiring rate of 20%. However, previous to this the rate was quoted at 60-70%, where it's been since 2004. Critics have suggested the rate was still approximately 60-70% as 2007 came to an end, yet still others suggest it is that high now. The website IraqUpdates.com reported in January that Iraq's Minister of Labor and Social Affairs hopes 2008 will be the year of reducing unemployment all around Iraq. Such hopes may ring empty to men like Mohammed and Ahmed, who are concerned not just with the difficulty of finding employment, but also the corruption rampant in the process. We reported in December about the difficulties for Iraqi refugees in Syria looking for work, yet it is perhaps nearly as difficult for Iraqis still at home to find work. Even those who can find work are still beset by the difficulties of security and stability. Those who must travel from their homes to look for work often feel they are taking their lives into their hands each day. Others such as Ahmed find it difficult to complete their work because of the lack of steady electricity or gasoline to fuel generators to make up for the lack of available power. Some Iraqis such as Ahmed, or these Iraqi teens we interviewed previously, have taken to working from home as much as possible, to limit their insecurity, particularly given the chance of traveling a long distance for work only to find their workplace lacks electricity or other resources necessary to operate. *** Alive in Baghdad is running low on funds. We depend on you the viewer for our support. Please, if you value this type of in-depth visual coverage that you can find nowhere else, become a paying subscriber today. Make a donation, or purchase a DVD!

Basra is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East, and it was well known as the city of knowledge and the city of poems, and that city was invaded several times and each time after a short while its residents returned to normal life. It was invaded by the British Military in the 1920s, and after that the people in Basra worked on returning life to the city, and now life has returned again to Basra after the many problems since the year 2003, the militias started to take over the place and some of the biggest problems occurred at the Basra University when one of the Iraqi militias attacked the students and prevented them from taking any trips outside the university considering these trips as something forbidden due to the rules of Islam, and since then problems in Basra began to be found everywhere. The markets were closed for a long time and citizens were afraid to go out to the markets after the problems that were happening in the streets. Many people were killed because of the attacks against the British forces, and most shops were closed because of the unstable security situation in Basra. The southern Iraqi tribes interfered to fix the situation in Basra, and there was a small improvement in the situation, but security and stability collapsed again in 2006 after the bombing of the Imam Al-Askariya Shrine. There were a great many demonstrations all over Basra and the markets were closed again Since 2003 the Basra was will known better in life then Baghdad the life at the night is lot better then Baghdad, in Baghdad the life ends at six or seven at night. In Basra the residents would only go home around 11:00PM and for the people in Baghdad it was a dream to stay out in the street till 11:00. It should be mentioned that in the last three weeks violence has returned to Basra, and more than 300 Iraqis were killed during these last three weeks because of the battles between Iraqi security forces and the militias. As the chaos and uncertainty in Iraq continues, we will continue to bring stories of daily life in Baghdad, we are in need of your support to continue our operations. You may have noticed our donations have stagnated since the beginning of the year, and we need your support to continue! Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation above, via ChipIn, to Alive in Baghdad, and support our Iraqi staff who continue to work under difficult circumstances.

Damascus, Syria - Kidnapping in Baghdad became very common over the last 5 years. By 2004 more then 1000 Iraqis were kidnapped in Baghdad by criminal gangs demanding ransom. In 2005 kidnappings became so bad that white papers were written on strategies to combat kidnapping. Some of those who were kidnapped were released alive and some were killed even after a ransom was paid. Individuals on all sides of the conflict have been the target of kidnappings. Journalists have accounted for 51 of the thousands of kidnappings in Iraq, a far greater number than during the United States' last major conflict in Vietnam. Although kidnappings of journalists have dropped off since 2006, according to Reporters Without Borders, at least fourteen kidnapped since early 2006 are still unaccounted for. Kidnappings of foreign aid workers and journalists have largely dropped off due to these organizations instituting stringent security practices, all but preventing them from accomplishing their work, and nearly every foreign aid agency has now left Iraq, including the Christian Peacemaker Teams who left after four of their teammates were kidnapped in 2006, one of whom was killed. Iraqi civilians however continue to be targeted. In 2006 Baghdad became a nightmare, more then 200 being kidnapped every day in Baghdad by gangs and militias. The bad security conditions exacerbated the criminal activities of militias and gangs over the last few years. No one goes out late at night or drives expensive cars on the streets of Baghdad. It became normal not to see any modern cars in Baghdad, due to the dangerous situation and the control of gangs in many Baghdad neighborhoods. The Iraqi morgue has filled with unknown corpses over the years. Some families travel every morning to the morgue, looking for their fathers, brothers, or other relatives, because in many cases though the family pays a ransom to the kidnapper they never received their loved one, so they go desperately searching for a corpse, and there are many kidnapped people who, to this moment, have never been found. The Iraqi government is trying to stop those gangs and militias from kidnapping people, but there are some police patrols and military troops infiltrated by members of certain militias. In several cases they've been successful, but there are also many kidnappings still going on in areas outside Baghdad's control. *** As the chaos and uncertainty in Iraq continues, we will continue to bring stories of daily life in Baghdad, we are in need of your support to continue our operations. You may have noticed our donations have stagnated since the beginning of the year, and we need your support to continue! Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation above, via ChipIn, to Alive in Baghdad, and support our Iraqi staff who continue to work under difficult circumstances.

Baghdad, Iraq - Khadimiya is one of the oldest cities i the world to be involved with the gold trade. The craft of goldsmithing started to become famous in Iraq in the 1930s when Iraqi goldsmiths began to use the electric cell for painting the gold after finishing the preparation. Other Arab countries started to import gold from Iraq for several reasons, such as the purity of the gold and the nice shapes they could mold it to. Since then Iraqis began to name their gold in different according to the shape and the weight-for example the pound, and it indicated that it has a weight of a pound and the tear because it was in the shape of a tear, and so on. The primary markets in Baghdad for gold are Share a Al-Nahr and Al-Khadimyia and those two markets consider by some to be the oldest in the world because since the Abbasid Dynasty these markets existed for the sale of gold and jewelry. Shara a Al-Nahr witnessed some of the worst gang wars in all of Iraq and the gold robberies there were the worst in all of Iraq history. It even it contested with the worst and largest burglaries and lootings until 2004 when the Iraqi Government implemented strict rules to protect the goldsmiths and their gold.Now people in Iraq journey to Khadimyia to buy gold for several reasons, the safety of the place, the cheap prices they can get in therem and the quantity of the shops there. At the same time the market is close to the shrine of Imam Kadhim, which makes it an important place, not only for Iraqis but also Iranians, who come all the way fro Tehran just to visit the Khadimiya shrine, but tend to by a great deal of gold at the same time.The current security condition made people less active in buying gold from the Iraqi markets, because it s considered one of the most dangerous items a person can buy in Baghdad. The chance of getting robbed is very high, and gangs are hanging around those areas as a routine. Many accidents have happened during the day time which is something that never happened here before the invasion of Iraq. So far Iraqi people have decided not to stop their life and they have continued to buy gold because gold is a very important element for any person wanting to get married, the Iraqi tradition states that a person should buy a certain amount of gold for any woman he wants to marry.***As the chaos and uncertainty in Iraq continues, we will continue to bring stories of daily life in Baghdad, we are in need of your support to continue our operations. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation above, via ChipIn, to Alive in Baghdad, and support our Iraqi staff who continue to work under difficult circumstances.

Kut Al-Zein / Um Al-Rasass Border Posts, Iraq - The Shatt Al-Arab is the place where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet, it also marks the border between Iraq and Iran. The banks of the Shatt Al-Arab have been witness to many things throughout the history of Iraq. It was a big battlefield during the Iraq-Iran War the first and second Gulf Wars, now the wars are over and the waterway has become a center of criminal gangs and smuggling.Several gangs work in smuggling cars, weapons, and drugs. The Iranian Government itself has also been accused of smuggling weapons into Iraq. Alarmingly, smugglers have even begun engaging in child-trafficking, although the border with Iran has not been cited as a specifically high area for this. Since being reconstituted after the occupation of Iraq, the Iraqi Police and National Guard have been in a constant battle to stop smugglers from bringing illicit goods into Iraq. These goods are being smuggled from Iran, Pakistan, India, and other remote countries. Smugglers are also known to be involved in financing insurgents cells in Iraq.The Border Guards are equipped with boats, helicopters, and other vehicles to stop smugglers, but one of the biggest problems those tasked with securing the border face are the much more advanced boats, weaponry and other vehicles possessed by the smugglers they re trying to detain and eliminate.The most valuable product being smuggled or stolen is oil. The smugglers use large boats to smuggle oil smuggle out of Iraq and the Iraqi Border Guard are trying their best to stop those particular boats from leaving Iraqi waters, but usually these boats are not only highly advanced it is also believed that many of the gangs and militias involved in smuggling operations have contacts with corrupt officials in the Iraqi government or security forces.Although these issues are all enough to create concern about the capabilities of Iraq s border security, there are still others recently surfacing. It has recently come to light that some of the United States Concerned Local Citizens or Al-Sahwa (Awakening) may have been involved in smuggling operations in the past. Also recently, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was quoted as saying that the Algiers Accord which includes agreement on the demarcation of the Iran-Iraq border along the Shatt Al-Arab needs to be renegotiated. An aid later claimed that the President had been misquoted and he did not repudiate the treaty.***The new year is upon us, and while we will continue to bring stories of daily life in Baghdad, we are in need of your support to continue our operations. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation above, via ChipIn, to Alive in Baghdad, and support our Iraqi staff who continue to work under difficult circumstances.

[Editor's note: This is one of the first entries written almost entirely by Bureau Chief Omar Abdullah, please let us know what you think about the slightly different format!] Baghdad, Iraq - It was heard from many people in Iraq that they were tortured by the ex-Iraqi intelligence, or Mukhabarat, and what is really interesting is that some of the survivors are talking about their torture in those days. What the Iraqi Intelligence used to do is to take people under that name of interrogation so they would keep them in prison cells in unknown areas, and some of the those cells are still being found until today. They are distributed all over Iraq, along with the mass graves that are still being found until this day. Many people are still wondering what happened to the nameless corpses that were found in those mass graves. Some people were kept for over 20 years in prison cells underground. One of the most famous prisons was found after the Occupation. It was built beneath Tahrir Square(the site where Saddam's statue was pulled down on April 9th). The prisoners in there were kept for more then a decade and a half, when the Iraqi people freed these prisoners they thought at first that the Iraq-Iran war was finally over and the Iranians won the war and occupied Iraq! So many torture stories and so many illegal detention stories will be heard from Iraqis being captured by the ex-Iraqi government. This week we spoke with two of them, one of whom the father of correspondent Nabeel Kamal. The main Intelligence Department during the Saddam Hussein regime was near Al-Nasour Square, they used to keep many of the prisoner in that facility, and this number was very large. There were more than fifteen thousand prisoners, some of them were released before the Occupation and some of them were released afterward. Most of the detainees under the ex-Iraqi government were detained due to their different opinions or opposition to the government. For example, if someone said I hate Saddam in a public place, that person will get detained, tortured, or executed. There were also some other reasons like being in a different political party than the Ba'ath party, disagreeing with one of the people close to Saddam, or opposing the draft for military service, and many other reasons. In Baghdad there were lot of Iraqi detainees and most of them were Shi'as, due to the refusal of the ex-Iraqi government to allow them to practice their religious acts. This is the reason that many Shi'as in Baghdad support demonstrations in Baghdad and the Imams of many mosques were detained due to there speeches about Saddam preventing their religious practices. Despite all of these things, there are still many Iraqis who question the execution of Saddam Hussein. These Iraqis cite the problems of the trial, the sudden nature of the execution, and even the concurrence of the execution with the holiday of Eid Al-Adha. Isam Rasheed interviewed two men who spoke about their feelings and impressions regarding Saddam Hussein's execution, and this week we look back at his eventual end, and some of the acts that brought him to such an end. *** Alive in Baghdad correspondents such as Isam Rasheed and Nabeel Kamal will continue to bring stories of daily life in Baghdad, as well as the difficulties of Iraqis living in surrounding countries. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a donation above to Alive in Baghdad, and support our Iraqi staff who continue to work under these difficult circumstances.