Kidnapped in Iraq: a survivor's story

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1020/p01s04-woiq.html

Kidnapped in Iraq: a survivor's story

CAIRO – As Amir Dawoud Issa, a technician for an Egyptian cellphone firm working in Iraq's war-torn Sunni triangle, delved into the guts of a problem generator, shots rang out in the distance.

At first he didn't think much of it - distant explosions from US air raids and insurgent gun fire were a steady backdrop to his six months working in the Iraqi desert. But then he saw a vision from another age: Bedouin raiders, some on donkeys, brandishing rifles and bearing down on his crew. His pulse racing, he watched as his guards were overwhelmed before they could get to their guns. Then the bandits, wearing the checked head scarves of rural tribes, were upon him.

"They were shouting in the most terrifying, barbaric voices,'' says Mr. Issa, an Egyptian Christian from the poor Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba. "We were all forced face down into the dirt. I thought they would strip us of our valuables and kill us." snip

"There were so many good people in Iraq, but I've got gray hair on my chest and in my beard now, my family was terrified,'' says Issa. "I'm never going back there again."

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