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In Baghdad soccer can be deadly
17/02/2008 21:42 - (SA)
Baghdad - Potential grudge matches don't get more intense than a soccer game between clubs from rival Shi'ite and Sunni Arab neighbourhoods of Baghdad which have seen
many residents killed by sectarian violence.
Kadhimiya and Adhamiya - communities separated geographically
only by the Tigris River but more profoundly by sect - faced off
on Sunday in a game to mark the first anniversary of a military
offensive to restore order to Baghdad.
Until the offensive, both communities had suffered repeated
bombings and killings as Sunni Arab and Shi'ite Muslim gunmen rampaged through Baghdad's streets, tearing previously mixed neighbourhoods apart.
"We all love you Iraq," shouted one elderly football fan leading the cheers of 3 000 people waving Iraqi flags at the city's main Shaab stadium.
"This game proves that sectarianism is finished in Iraq," said Abdul Satar Jawad, the coach of Sunni Arab Adhamiya.
A year ago, Sunday's game would have been unthinkable.
During 2006 and into the first half of 2007, suicide car and
truck bombers turned Baghdad's popular outdoor areas into
killing fields. Rival death squads stalked the streets.
The death toll only began to fall in the months after US
and Iraqi forces launched a crackdown named "Operation Imposing
Law", seen as a last-ditch attempt to prevent the country
slipping into full-scale civil war.
Briding the divide
Attacks in Baghdad have since declined by up to 80%, according to the Iraqi military.
The A'imma bridge between the two neighbourhoods was the
scene in 2005 of the worst loss of life since the 2003 US-led
invasion. Up to 1 000 pilgrims heading to a shrine in Kadhimiya died after a stampede sparked by rumours of a suicide bombing.
Then last April, the US military put up a 5km concrete wall around Adhamiya, surrounded on three sides by
Shi'ite communities.
Kadhimiya is home to a shrine of a revered Shi'ite imam and had been a regular target for attacks by Sunni Arab groups.
Until sectarian violence erupted in early 2006, the two
areas had a long shared history.
"This game is part of national reconciliation and to show
there is no friction between Sunni and Shia in Iraq, to prove
that for Iraqis and the world," Gewad said.
Fans said the playing of the match itself was more important
than who won - and, appropriately, it ended in a 1-1 draw.
- Reuters
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