Iraqi man ends 20 years in hiding
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2938998.stm


Twenty-one years ago, Saddam Hussein placed an execution order on Jawad Amir for supporting an outspoken Shia cleric.

Mr Amir escaped - not into a far-off town or neighbouring country, but into a space sandwiched between two walls in his parents' home.

He said for the whole of his hiding he never left that small, dark space and had only a tiny peephole to view the outside world.

Few possessions

"When I felt the danger I escaped to my parents' house, then I prepared my hiding place to keep away from the people so no one could ever report me to the regime," he explained.

"In this place I prepared everything I needed to survive."

The narrow space contains few possessions - a radio, teeth he lost while in hiding and pictures of his younger self.

He said he listened to the BBC's Arabic Service and read the Koran to pass the time. He drank river water from a small well.

Only his closest family members knew he was there. Even the neighbours in his tiny village of Jobah thought he had disappeared.

But after Saddam Hussein's statue fell in Baghdad, Mr Amir - now 49 - finally felt it safe to leave his hiding place.

His mother, Ramsya Haddi, was elated.

"I feel as if I had just given birth to him again," she said.

Mr Amir said he feels well and is optimistic about the future.






hmmm....that sucked:o

wonder why he kept his teeth?

LOL. I am sorry but I really did Laugh out loud when I read that. I mean you read that and your response is 5 words long and you just are like "So why did he keep his teeth?" Thats funny. And this whole story is Inspiring/sad/funny all at the same time.

Wow Wow Wow

I wonder how many times you can get through the Koran doing that.

I also wonder if he sat there for twenty years trying to figure out why he didn't just get the hell out of country...

Wow. That's incredible.

It's amazing what humans are capable of doing to survive.

I wasn't trying to take away anything about what he did.. I just found that to be kinda odd..

that's surprising

I feel really happy for this man...I m glad that out war accomplished that, in addition to everything else.

I just can't help thinking that maybe he overreacted. I can see hiding out for a year or two till things cool over and then moving to a completely new area of the country. But 20 years in between a wall?

I think in 20 years I could've found the border to somewhere. It might have been more productive than hiding out and counting teeth.

ever read the diary of anne frank? same idea. you can go anywhere you want. informers and soldiers know. people are more than happy to give up fugitives in order to save their own asses. this man did what he had to do to stay alive for twenty damn years. my hat goes off to him. i'm completely impressed.

this is a incredible story..it makes me wonder what this guy will do now after that many years of inactivity.