Some Arab Volunteers Retur Home,Disillusioned by Iraq Jihad

Some Arab Volunteers Returning Home, Disillusioned by Jihad in Iraq
By Tanalee Smith Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 10, 2003

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - It was a phenomenon of Arab brotherhood: From across the Mideast and even farther afield, hundreds of young men made their way to Iraq to fight the U.S. and British "invaders." But with the fall of Baghdad and the absence of Iraqi leadership, some volunteers are returning home, disillusioned and angry at the failure of their jihad, or holy war.

"We volunteered to defend Baghdad," said Firas Ali Abdullah, who returned to Syria with seven other Syrians and Lebanese on Wednesday. "Instead of giving us weapons to fight, they used us as human shields."

Scores of Arabs traveled to Iraq before and since the start of the war, taking up the banner of jihad against the U.S.-led offensive. Young and old men gathering at bus stations in Damascus, Syria, or taxi stands in Amman, Jordan, vowed to fight, with suicide attacks if they had to.

But the Arabs expected to join a solid army with firm leadership. With the dissolution of Iraq's government structure, the scattering of the army and the surprising invisibility of even the esteemed Republican Guard, many grew discouraged and disillusioned.

"We were hit by Iraqis from the back and the American troops from the front," Abdullah said.

Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported that even the Iraqis were trying to talk the Arabs into giving up the fight.

Shortly before the war began March 20, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan announced that thousands of Arab volunteers seeking martyrdom were arriving and more were expected. Iraq's state television later said an estimated 4,000 fighters had arrived.

Abdullah, the Syrian fighter, said he knew of 600 Arab volunteers, including 180 Syrians and 300 Lebanese and Jordanians. He said he was a member of the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, which he said sent 200 suicide fighters, although the group has denied sending anyone.

Many volunteers remain in Iraq, making up some of the most determined holdouts in the fight against coalition troops. In Baghdad on Thursday, U.S. Marines cleared out two mosques after determining that fighters from other Arab countries were inside, firing on U.S. troops.

At a former Iraqi military compound, eight prisoners knelt in the dirt. U.S. soldiers said they were suspected Islamic militants from France, Algeria, Egypt and Jordan. In Cairo, the furor for jihad has died down.

On Wednesday, Egyptian TV showed footage of men clamoring to get inside the lawyers' union offices, where they could sign up for jihad. But on Thursday, the office was empty and the man in charge of distributing applications said no volunteers had come since Wednesday afternoon, when televisions aired live footage of Saddam's statue being toppled in Baghdad.

At a shabby coffee shop in downtown Cairo, waiter Ashraf Abu el-Alla seemed resigned to the futility of the volunteers' fight.

"There is no use now. Look at the Iraqi president, he let his people down. Why should Arabs remain there?" he asked.