Please be assured that a joint statement from ICA, IFLA and ICBS is about to
be issued and will be brought to the attention of the competent authorities,
and to that of the Directors-General of all National Archives, the Library
of Congress, the British Library etc.
Ken Hall
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Westwood" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: Occupation of the Iraq National Library & Archive
> Dear Patricia,
>
> Thank you for posting this troubling e-mail. I'm sure individual messages
> of support are very welcome, but the intervention of the bodies that
> represent archivists and librarians at national and international level
> will surely be more effective.
>
> It would be really helpful if any representatives of these bodies who are
> members of this list would let us know what action they plan to take (or
> perhaps are already taking?) in support of Saad and his colleagues.
>
> With thanks in advance,
>
> Sarah Westwood
> College Archivist
> Downing College
> Cambridge
>
>
>
> --On 08 August 2007 15:28 +0100 Patricia Sleeman <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I have just got this email. please do what you can.
>>
>> all the best,
>>
>> Patricia
>>
>> *******************************************************
>> Dear Patricia
>>
>> Can you spread the following news about the national guards' occupation
>> of
>> Iraq National Library & Archive. I need all the support I can get from
>> around the world.
>> Perhaps you can contact some British newspapers...
>> Below is the text of a message I sent to a dear American friend who
>> always
>> stood by us..
>> The message explains everything...
>> (please note it will be difficult for me to have an easy access to the
>> internet because of the 4-day curfew)
>>
>> All the Best
>> Saad
>>
>> Dear ...
>>
>> I hope this message finds well.
>> I would like to inform you that the unruly national guards are continuing
>> their aggression against the INLA and its staff.
>> This morning, (8 August), a group of Iraqi national guards has broken
>> into
>> the National Library and Archive's main building.
>> By this action, the national guards have violated the instructions of the
>> Council of Ministers, which clearly assert that Iraqi security and armed
>> forces cannot enter any state-run institution without a prior approval of
>> the government and the concerned authorities.
>> The national guards took their action without consulting or asking me;
>> they simply entered the building by force. As the government declared
>> 4-day curfew period, I was not able to go the INLA to be with the INLA's
>> guards, who did not know what to do. Therefore, I talked to the commander
>> of the national guards by phone, asking him politely to leave the
>> building
>> immediately. He refused to consider the idea of evacuating the building,
>> claiming that he had orders from his superiors and the Americans to
>> occupy
>> the NILA. He justified his action by claiming that the national guards
>> wanted to protect Shi'i visitors of the holy shrines of al-Kadhimiyah,
>> which is 30 km away from the INLA!!
>>
>> I would also like to draw your attention to the fact on Monday (6
>> August), a US military patrol entered the INLA's main building without my
>> permission. The commander of the patrol interrogated the INLA's guards
>> and ordered them to show their IDs. Please note, this was not the first
>> time in which US patrols entered the INLA without my permission. In July,
>> US soldiers entered the INLA three times. It seems clear to me that the
>> actions of US soldiers' have encouraged Iraqi national guards to do the
>> same, i.e. entering and then occupying the building by force.
>>
>> By the way, US army units and the national guards have their own bases in
>> the same old building of the Ministry of Defense, where they coordinate
>> their security efforts. The old building of the Ministry of Defense is
>> just opposite the INLA.
>>
>> I contacted US authorities In Baghdad indirectly, hoping to stop the
>> violations and the unlawful actions of both US soldiers and Iraqi
>> national
>> guards against the INLA and its staff. They showed no interest
>> whatsoever.
>> As you and others are fully aware, my staff and I have spent a lot of
>> time
>> and efforts on the reconstruction of the INLA, after it was destroyed in
>> mid-April 2003. The reckless actions of US Army and the Iraqi National
>> Guards will put the INLA's staff and library and archival collections in
>> real danger. I hold both US Army and the Iraqi National Guards
>> responsible
>> for all future material damages, cultural losses and human casualties.
>>
>> I need your support and that of your colleagues
>> I will ask some of my friends in Europe to support us whatever the means
>> I will not cease my efforts to expose the wrong doings of the national
>> guards and those who are behind them
>>
>> As Ever
>> Saad Eskander
>
>
>
> --
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