STOP PRESS
I have
just received the urgent message below from Dr Saad Eskander, the Director of the Iraq National
Library and Archive (INLA) in Baghdad.
According to Eskander, a group of Iraqi national
guards broke into the National Library and Archive's main building as the
government declared a 4-day curfew period. Eskander believes this will
put the INLA's staff and library and archival collections in real danger.
[The British Library has been posting Dr Eskander's diary blog at
http://www.bl.uk/iraqdiary.html since the end of 2006. Eskander's blog provides cogent and
unmediated witness to the perilous and tragic conditions that the Iraq
National Library and Archive and its staff are operating under].
If you want any
further information or want to contact me - as it looks as though it may be
difficult to contact Eskander himself - my direct dial number is 0207 412 7269
(mob: 07986840861)
With Best Wishes
Andy
Andy Stephens
Board Secretary and Head of Corporate Secretariat
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
Tel: (020) 7412
7269
Fax: (020) 7412 7093
Dear Andy
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 newspaper such as the
Guardian...
Below is the text of a message I sent to a dear American friend who always
stood by us..
(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
Posted
by:
Stephanie Kenna
Manager,
Regional and Library Programmes
The British
Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
