Bestun spent
two years working as an interpreter in his Kurdish homeland after
Saddam Hussein was toppled from power, but now he fears for the
future. Chris Bond reports.
He was 16 when he joined the Peshmerga, or freedom fighters, who
found themselves caught in the middle of the Iran-Iraq war during
the 1980s.
Chemical weapons were used against them during Saddam's genocidal
al-Anfal campaign, which, according to Human Rights Watch and
Amnesty International, claimed 182,000 Kurdish lives.
Bestun was injured twice during skirmishes and in 1986 he applied
for refugee status, first in Iran and then Syria, where he was
tortured by the secret police, before finally escaping to the UK two
years later.
He arrived in London where he learned to speak English while working
as a waiter, before going to live in Holland in the mid-1990s where
he was granted EU citizenship.
When he returned to Kurdistan, he began working as an interpreter
for the US army in Sulaimaniyah.
His boss was the Kurdish representative of CPA (Coalition
Provisional Authority) chief Paul Bremner, which meant he was
frequently working alongside some of the US military's top brass.
The situation in Kurdistan at the time, he claims, was desperate.
"There was a shortage of electricity and water so I had to find
people who could help, because the pipes were very old and sometimes
you turned on
the tap and just mud would come out.
"Many people were having problems with their kidneys so I had to
show the delegations the conditions of the hospitals and the
generators," he says.
Since the collapse of Saddam's regime, millions of pounds have been
pumped into Iraq to help rebuild its crippled economy, but Bestun
says little has changed.
"All the money coming from other countries, billions of dollars,
which should have been used to help people and improve education,
you can't find it.
"Young people are escaping from Kurdistan now because they don't
think they have a future there."
Bestun claims that corruption among politicians, businessmen and the
police is to blame.
"The (US] army is doing a very good job in Kurdistan about
reconstruction, about taking care of the people and building
hospitals and sewers.
"But once these projects are handed to the Iraqis, you see a lot of
stealing.
"Corruption is everywhere, for example, those projects that are
helping with the reconstruction of Iraq are all controlled by
businessmen and politicians and people loyal to them."
And it is the ordinary people, he says, who are suffering.
"Instead of serving people and providing clean water and health
services, the money just disappears.
"They have all these millions of dollars coming in but there are
still many areas of Sulaimaniyah that don't have proper roads,
proper sewage systems and there are other levels of people,
politicians, living a very good life. They are driving very nice
cars and always have clean water and electricity."
The short-term presence of US troops is welcomed by many Kurds who
see them as a safeguard in a turbulent political arena.
"Our stability depends on how long the British and American troops
are staying in the country. The political situation in Kurdistan is
very different compared to the rest of Iraq.
"The Kurds are threatened by Turkey, Iran and Syria and these
countries don't want an independent or strong Kurdistan," he says.
"People can't find oil for heating, our oil goes to Turkey and comes
back double the price. I don't understand why in three years we
couldn't build a refinery in Kurdistan? Kurdistan is safe, there are
no security reasons, the problems are all political."
Compared to elsewhere in Iraq, the Kurdish region is relatively
stable but fear and hatred still simmer beneath the surface.
"We had chauffeurs who took people from Sulaimaniyah to Baghdad and
many of them were scared to go there because they thought they would
be killed just because they were Kurds.
"And in Sunni areas the same thing is happening with the Shias, this
is a civil war."
The situation now contrasts sharply with the euphoric scenes that
greeted Saddam Hussein's capture. "I remember when they brought
Saddam Hussein from his rat hole, people were out in the street
drinking, everyone was blowing their horns in their cars.
"Saddam Hussein was a monster and the British and Americans have
done a very good job getting rid of him. The problem is Iraq doesn't
work, but they don't admit that."
Bestun also worked with international police advisers to create a
training centre in Kurdistan for new officers which has helped make
the region safe.
But elsewhere in the country police officers have been targeted by
insurgents determined to inflame an already combustible situation.
In March last year, he joined the Iraqi army as a soldier but after
five months without being paid he returned to the UK through his EU
citizenship. He now works as a part-time interpreter for a refugee
organisation in Yorkshire and hopes his wife and their nine
month-old daughter will be able to join him.
If they stay in Kurdistan, he fears what will happen to them.
"I think the future of the country is not clear but I fear there
will be much more bloodshed ñ– Iraq has never been safe and I don't
think it ever will be safe."
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