Insurgents throw Latifiya residents out of their homes - ministry

Shi'ite Muslims living in the volatile southern city of Latifiya have been thrown out of their homes by insurgents and told to go to the heavily Shi'ite city of Nasiriyah further south, Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM) officials working on the problem told IRIN. The fighters, who are Sunni Muslims loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, sent messages to families in Latifiya telling them they would be killed if they didn’t move out, said Emad, a worker at the MoDM who asked that his last name and position not be publicised for fear that he would also become a target. “When they saw the terrorists in their city, they were afraid,” Emad said. “They saw the killing of six Shi'ite truck drivers in Fallujah six months ago.” Nasiriyah was seen as a safe place where some people had relatives, he said, adding that as many as 500 families may have moved there. Latifiya and neighbouring Mamoudia are about 70 km south of Baghdad. Another road connects them directly to Fallujah, about 40 km west of the capital where many residents are believed to be loyal to Saddam Hussein. Two French journalists kidnapped on the road near Latifiya in September have not been released - the area is considered too dangerous for foreigners to visit. “The insurgents are trying to establish a Sharia [Islamic] state, according to their understanding. Maybe now families will not be allowed to move back to their homes in Latifiya,” Emad said. Sharia law is sometimes used in Muslim countries to govern their civil affairs. It is often considered more conservative than the laws of Iraq. Some observers say that the fighters are foreigners who want to install a more conservative form of Islam in Iraq. The Iraqi Red Crescent, often one of the first agencies to deal with such a crisis, had not yet heard about the apparent forced migration, Anas al-Azawie, manager of the tracing department, told IRIN. Fighting has worsened in Fallujah in recent weeks. Aid agencies have stopped operations in the Fallujah area and are waiting to see the outcome of the situation. Interim prime minister Ayad Allawi recently threatened military action in the insurgent stronghold unless they handed over Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. US troops said that in the past two weeks they had rounded up more than 800 suspected insurgents from the area around Latifiya near Hilla. Insurgents are believed to be using these cities because of their connection with Fallujah and the so-called Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Samarra where other pro-Saddam loyalists are thought to be holding out.