top of page

The aftermath of the Gulf War: Saddam’s Human Shields

Imagine in this very moment, as you’re reading this article, a war breaks out and all that you’ve known, all that is familiar to you has to change. The home you’ve built the bonds and friendships you’ve worked on over the years, it’s all about to change. That’s exactly how Ibrahim Yaqub felt in his hometown of Najaf, Iraq.

Ibrahim Yaqub when he first arrived to Australia at, Melbourne airport[endif]--

‘’Everything I just told you, everything that happened to me it’s because of Saddam, He put me in jail, I missed my mother’s funeral. Even now I’m afraid to speak to you about this topic, I can’t even stand the idea of him, I wish him nothing but hell! May he burn in Hell,’

[endif]--Ibrahim Yaqub, 54 was forced to flee Iraq and refuge to Australia in 1994 after the Gulf war. He came to Australia with his wife and kids after being forced to flee his home town and enter a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia for four years before arriving to Australia. ![endif]--![endif]--

’'Everything I just told you, everything that happened to me it’s because of Saddam, He put me in jail, I missed my mother’s funeral. Even now I’m afraid to speak to you about this topic, I can’t even stand the idea of him, I wish him nothing but hell! May he burn in Hell,’'

He speaks to me looking over his shoulder in fear that we are being watched or monitored. As his face is filling with rage he reminisces when he was in the army during the Gulf war in 1990 where he stuck his head out from the top of a trench that he’d dug. Just as he could see past the

trench wall a bullet skimmed the side of his face.

‘’All thanks is due to God,’’ Yaqub says touching his scar as he remembers the event that almost killed him.

When Iraq Invaded Kuwait in 1990 the major conflict was between Ba'athist Iraq and the Emirate of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation.

In 1990 Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum, through Ibrahim says that ‘It was all Saddam’s fault‘ Ibrahim believes that Saddam Hussein's decision to attack Kuwait was made a few months before the actual invasion and he feels there were several reasons for the Iraqi move, including Iraq being in debt and political issues with Iran.

A British Airways scheduled flight, BA149, left London's Heathrow Airport on the evening of August 1, 1990, bound for Kuwait right in the middle of the conflict. The flight landed successfully in Kuwait but after the passengers had left the aircraft they shortly realised the airport was closed. Shortly after the runway was attacked by Iraqi forces and the passengers who were frightened and scared were, were forced to transfer to a hotel after suffering this shocking ordeal.

Author of the Book, The Secret to Flight BA149, Stephen Davis says he wrote this book after discovering this event because he

‘’There were two reasons the government wanted to cover up what happened to BA149

One was financial, they would have had to pay the passengers a lot of compensation

If it had been known that they had to risk their lives’’

Second being they wanted to cover up the fact that they used the secret intelligence team to put them on the plane to get them in to the country.’’ Stephen Daivs

[endif]-- He said he sympathised with the terrible ordeal the passengers would have had to face.

’There were two reasons the government wanted to cover up what happened to BA149

One was financial, they would have had to pay the passengers a lot of compensation

If it had been known that they had to risk their lives’’

Second being they wanted to cover up the fact that they used the secret intelligence team to put them on the plane to get them in to the country.’’ Stephen Daivs

The Secret to Ba149 was dropped for publishing by the US & UK and only available as an online download, Stephen Davis says that he’s convinced it’s because the government pressured the publications to drop it as it’s too controversial to talk about ‘Cia and secret operations’.

Ironically, the passengers of flight BA149 and Ibrahim Yaqub have a lot in common, both were victims of the Gulf war and both were used as ‘Human Shields’ to further Saddam’s agenda.

When I asked Ibrahim about what he thought about Saddam using people as human shields during the war his face lit up with excitement.

‘’I’ve never been happy to talk about my experience in the war as I was forced in the army from a young age but there you said it, not me, you said human shield’’ Ibrahim said.

From the age of 14, he had been very politically aware of the ‘Saddam regime’ as he puts it. When I told him about the story of the British airways flight being caught in the middle of the conflict Ibrahim’s eyes started to tear up.

[endif]--

‘’We are the same, all victims of Saddam’’. He explained that he just like the passengers were used as human shields in this war.

After the outbreak of the gulf war in 1991, many families, like Ibrahim fled to Australia seeking refuge, some families like Ibrahim’s lived in processing camps for up to five years before being accepted into Australia under the Special Humanitarian Program.

Between 1992 and 1995 the Iraq-born population in Victoria increased to 3,493 by 1996.

[endif]--Ibrahim says he wants people to know his story so they can ‘research and educate themselves’ about what happened during the Iraq and Kuwait war.

Iraqi Immigration to Australia

The following chart shows the peak in Immigration to Australia from Iraq, post-Gulf war in 1992. It also shows the amount of Humanitarian visas awarded after 1992 to refugees fleeing the war.

![endif]--

![endif]--![endif]--


Who's Behind The Blog
Bringing you the 'Haq'
Search By Tags
No tags yet.
Follow  HAQ NEWS
  • Facebook Basic Black
  • Twitter Basic Black
  • Google+ Basic Black
bottom of page