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New
Zealand First leader Winston Peters has identified
another former Iraqi official living in New Zealand
- but the man says he was a whistleblower who fled
the regime in fear for his life.
Mr Peters said "a number" of Iraqis had called his
office to report sightings of former officials here
since he announced last week that a former Iraqi
diplomat, Zohair Mohammad al-Omar, was living in the
Auckland suburb of Glenfield.
He said the latest man, Fakhri Sabri Mohammed, was
the former mayor of Ambar district, which includes
rebel hotspot Fallujah.
"Fallujah is infamously known around the world as
the most difficult area, and it's a small little
village, but it has a far greater reputation than
that inside Ambar province of which this man was the
mayor.
"He's occupying the highest position in this huge
province and no one's up there without being a mate
of Saddam's, and a trusted confidant of his."
Mr Mohammed, 63, who arrived in New Zealand as a
refugee in March 2003 with his wife and two
daughters, was visibly shocked when the Herald told
him of Mr Peter's allegations.
He said the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees and New Zealand officials had interviewed
him at length and checked his story.
He had been Deputy Governor of several towns and
cities, including Baghdad, Kirkuk, Samarra, Tikrit
and Basra, he said.
He became increasingly unhappy with the regime's
ill-treatment of the Kurdish people, which threw him
into conflict with then Governor of Kirkuk, Aiad
Alrawi.
He objected to the treatment "because I am Muslim
and that is the opposite of Muslim. All of them -
Kurdish, Arabic, Turkomans ... - all of them are
Iraqi. There is no difference between each group and
the other group."
He said his situation became perilous when he had a
run-in with Saddam's close relative Ali Hassan al-Majid
- known as Chemical Ali and the Butcher of Kurdistan
for his alleged toxic gas attacks on Kurds.
Al-Majid, who awaits trial on charges of genocide
and crimes against humanity, was one of the most
powerful men in Saddam's Government - the
fifth-ranked King of Spades in the US Army's Iraqi
most-wanted deck of cards.
Mr Mohammed said he discovered Al-Majid was hoarding
150 tonnes of food intended to be distributed to old
people, and he reported it to the Government.
He said it "was not easy" to challenge Al-Majid. He
narrowly escaped arrest and fled to Jordan, and his
family later followed. Two sons are now back in Iraq
and a third son is in Jordan.
Mr Mohammed said that like most Iraqis he was a
member of the Baath Party but he was not an active
member and refused to take a higher role. In 1996 he
submitted his resignation from the party, but was
told if he quit he would lose his job and his
children would be unable to go to school.
"We left our country because we were oppressed by
the regime."
The Herald contacted the United Nations in Canberra
to check Mr Mohammed's story but they were unable to
provide an explanation by the time the paper went to
press.
The family, who said they were grateful for New
Zealand's help, now fear they will be "victimised
again".
www.nzherald.co.nz
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