Dear Friends
I was glad to read the article about the workers in Nasiriyan. Finally someone is willing to recognize cities in Iraq as a field of political and social struggle where the workers, peacelovers and freedom seeking people strive to become a third alternative.
As for Rassim al Awadi [official GUTU delegate at the ILO], he is a previous Baath figure as he used to be an official in the unions under Sadam’s regime, but he is not one of the 50 something deck. Many leftists in the west have recognized him before meeting others. As the Baathist were the only ones working during these decades, they have more means and skills of communicating and also skills in hiding their anti-worker history.
As for Muqtada al Sadr, he has recognized the interim government following the steps of Al Sistani (a higher ranking Shiite cleric), but people say that the true story was that after all the killing in his ranks and the destruction in his areas, most of his supporters have abandoned him and preferred to revert to more peaceful ways of political struggle.
It is a well-known fact in Baghdad, that when you see a woman covered up with black from head to toe, with only the eyes showing, when you see her wearing black gloves and stockings in the unbearable heat of June, you talk to her to find out that she has had no access to education….and she [dresses] like that because she is a follower of Muqtada Al Sader – not that she knows any of his teachings…nobody does, it is just a religious position that he’s inherited from his father. Many of the begging families in the streets (and they are a lot in this post-war Iraq) are dressed like that; i.e. the women look like black plastic bags and usually they are denied any education even if the family is well off.
Best Regards
Yanar Mohammed
Chairperson of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq
Editor in Chief of Al Mousawat (Equality) Newspaper
http://www.equalityiniraq.com
MoPress 
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