Iraqi exiles head home to fight ‘invaders’:
Thousands of Iraqi exiles have been returning home over the past week from Jordan, with many insisting they want to defend their country against US and British “invaders.”
Jordanian records show that 5,284 Iraqis have crossed the desert border overland into Iraq since March 16, Col Ahmad al-Hazaymeh, director of Jordan’s al Karama border post, said yesterday. …
“They all said they wanted to take part in the fight against the Americans,” Mr al-Ali said. …
Applause broke out when an Arab television station showed what it claimed was footage of a US attack helicopter downed by Iraqi forces in southern Iraq. “Our blood and soul we sacrifice for you, Saddam,” the crowd chanted as they danced under a life-size portrait of the Iraqi president.
Jassim Mohammed Laftah, 30, who has been in Jordan two years, quit his job as a mechanic to go back. “I’m going back to join fellow Iraqis in their jihad and defence of our country against the American invaders,” he shouted.
“When the Americans invaded my country, I felt it my duty is to sacrifice my life for our leader … and for my country,” said Mr Laftah, a native of Missan in southern Iraq. …
“Although I don’t like Saddam, there’s no way I would accept that the Americans attack my country and scare our children with their bombing,” Layla Burhan, a rich Iraqi who is not planning on going back, said at her home in Amman.
At the embassy, Mr Laftah said he fled Iraq two years ago to seek a better life. He refused to say whether he opposed Saddam’s regime or was affiliated with Iraqi dissident groups. “Saddam is our beloved leader,” he said.
Loa’i Ghaleb al-Abadi, a 27-year-old businessman, has been in Jordan for three years but said: “I could not stay here and watch my father and brother fighting the American invaders alone.”
He was planning to drive back on Monday to help defend his home town of Nasiriya in southern Iraq, a major crossing point for US troops on the Euphrates.