At Denuded Weapons Site, a New Menacing Presence

[seemslikeadream]

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: October 31, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 30 - More than a year and a half after hundreds of tons of powerful explosives vanished at Al Qaqaa, the former weapons facility, the scene on Saturday was of a ransacked and largely denuded moonscape, ruled by the mujahedeen.

They appeared to be in at least temporary control of the sprawling site, setting up checkpoints, conducting surveillance and even detaining visitors who did not suit the fighters' inscrutable purposes.

On Saturday, two British armored vehicles patrolled the distant fringes.

Fresh trenches and earthen berms surrounded clusters of gutted bunkers that once contained the explosives - possibly in an attempt by the American and Iraqi governments to keep away outsiders as they begin inquiries into the disappearance of the materials, as detected by the Iraqi government and international investigators.

But it was the men wearing the filigreed headcloths and nurturing a hatred of Westerners who were running the place on Saturday. Two employees of The New York Times drove over the berms in an all-terrain vehicle, but were questioned by a mujahedeen scout who suddenly arrived at the place where they were taking the first known pictures of the gutted bunkers - their metal doors torn off and stolen, their dark bellies empty - since soon after the invasion began early last year

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/31/international/middleeast/31site.html

[maddezmom]

1. so we now have the 'mujahedeen" guarding Al Qaqaa

yes, makes perfect sense in * fucked up war plan. :eyes:

[Nancy Waterman]

2. I hope this gets a lot of media play

This is a very powerful image and not one at all helpful to Bush.

[maddezmom]

4. I've been surfing the tube all day of and on...haven't heard a peep

[leftchick]

3. this is curious...

~snip~

The British armored vehicles were nowhere to be found. Mr. Mizher and his companion were taken, blindfolded, to the safe house and relentlessly questioned by what appeared to be a higher-ranking mujahedeen officer.

This man had served in the Iraqi Army - fortunately for Mr. Mizher, who had been a captain in the army himself. He mentioned the names of several former high-ranking army officers in the area of Al Qaqaa, and the mujahedeen seemed to soften.

After they had checked his cameras, phones, identification and vehicle registration and satisfied themselves with the interrogation, the mujahedeen drove both employees back to a place near the fjord and let them go.

The mujahedeen never said why Al Qaqaa was still so important to them. They simply melted away into the desert.



... why indeed??