http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-basra27jun27,0,5239723.story?coll=la-home-headlines
June 27, 2005latimes.com : IraqSingle page Print E-mail story
THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Islamic Law Controls the Streets of Basra
Enforcers patrol the city and Shiite militiamen have taken over the police.
Residents accused of infractions are beaten or killed.
By Louise Roug, Times Staff Writer
BASRA, Iraq - Physicians have been beaten for treating female patients. Liquor
salesmen have been killed. Even barbers have faced threats for giving haircuts
judged too short or too fashionable.
Religion rules the streets of this once cosmopolitan city, where women no
longer dare go out uncovered.
"We can't sing in public anymore," said Hussin Nimma, a popular singer from the
south. "It's ironic. We thought that with the change of the regime, people
would be more open to singing, art and poetry."
Unmarked cars cruise the streets, carrying armed, plain-clothed enforcers of
Islamic law. Who they are or answer to is unclear, but residents believe they
are part of a battle for Basra's soul.
In the spring, Shiite and Sunni Muslim officials were killed in a series of
assassinations here, and residents feared their city would fall prey to the
kind of sectarian violence ailing the rest of the country.
Instead, conservative Shiite Islamic parties have solidified their grip, fully
institutionalizing their power in a city where the Shiite majority had long
been persecuted by the Sunni-dominated rule of Saddam Hussein.
Although eager to distance themselves from the militias, Shiite religious
parties now control both the streets and the council chambers. And though Basra
has not suffered the same level of bombings and assassinations as major cities
to the north, the trade-off for law and order appears to be a crackdown on
social practices and mores that were permissible under the secular, if
repressive, regime of Hussein.
In a sign of Basra's strategic and symbolic importance, Abdelaziz Hakim, head
of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a leading Shiite party,
visited the city this month. Thousands of residents watched as the former
commander of SCIRI's paramilitary force released 18 white doves representing
peace.
But peace in Basra, Iraq's second most populous city, has come at a cost.
A few weeks ago, the Basra police chief acknowledged that he'd lost control of
his 13,000-strong force to Shiite militiamen who joined up. He was removed from
his job. His replacement is rumored to be Lt. Col. Salam Badran, who is
affiliated with SCIRI.
Some residents believe many members of the SCIRI-affiliated paramilitary force,
the Badr Brigade, have signed on to the Basra police force, and that brigade
members give first loyalty to the party.
"The militias are more powerful than the police," said Saba Shedar, a
goldsmith. The man who brings home a bottle of liquor or the woman without a
veil both risk beatings, he said. Merchants who kept their shops open well into
the night now close at sunset out of fear.
"This is the democracy of 2005," Shedar said. "We expected improvement, but now
there's no freedom in the streets for the women. People are afraid."
The militiamen carry out political assassinations and dole out punishment for
alleged religious infractions, residents say.
Local SCIRI officials deny any participation in the clandestine killings and
emphasize their party's involvement in the political process. The Badr
militia's most important job is setting an example of virtuous conduct, said
Furat Sharza, a SCIRI representative.
"Badr people can educate others," Sharza said. "The role of Badr in Basra -
whether in security or other area - is big, vital."
National Shiite leaders have said militias would not be disbanded, affronting
Sunnis who believe they are targets of vengeance by Shiites who were brutally
repressed under Hussein's Sunni-run regime.
In restaurants, people now talk of the trade-off of militia influence.
"Security is good in part because the militia is effective," said Saad Hussein,
a visitor from Baghdad. "You must give them a power to fight the terrorists,
but it has to be a limited power. If it's unlimited, they'll use it against the
society. It's a difficult balance."
A local businessman who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal
compared the current strict rule to life under Hussein
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