[amc] FW: Peacemakers Expelled from Iraq
- From: "Kathy Reid" <Kathy@xxxxxxx>
- To: "Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 19:38:41 -0600
-----Original Message-----
From: L Diener [mailto:ldiener456@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 1:43 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: Peacemakers Expelled from Iraq
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gene Stoltzfus, Chicago" <cpt@xxxxxxx>
To: <menno.org.cpt.news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 9:11 PM
Subject: Chicago: Peacemakers Expelled from Iraq
CPTNET
Peacemakers Expelled from Iraq
Mar. 29, 2003
Chicago IL - Seven members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), two members
of the Iraq Peace Team (IPT), and three other internationals were expelled
by the Iraqi government today. All left Baghdad at 9:30am local time in
three vehicles and arrived at the Jordanian border at approximately 6:00pm
local time.
Those expelled include CPT members Peggy Gish, 60 (Athens, OH); Cliff
Kindy, 53 (North Manchester, IN); Weldon Nisly, 57 (Seattle, WA), Betty
Scholten, 69 (Mt. Rainier, MD); Kara Speltz, 65 (Oakland, CA); Jonathon and
Leah Wilson-Hartgrove, both 22 (Devon, PA) -- all U.S. citizens. IPT
members were Shane Claiborne and Michael Birmingham.
When asked in a telephone conversation with CPT's Chicago office at 5:30pm
CST about the possible reasons for the expulsion, Kindy described the
intense level of anxiety throughout Baghdad. The government "minder"
assigned to their group ordered the expulsion after team members walked
from their hotel to a meeting in another hotel, documenting the destruction
in the streets along the way. His own house was hit by bombs the previous
night.
Kindy reported that "the road from Baghdad to the border was
clear." However, one of their taxis blew a tire on the highway and rolled
into a ditch injuring Kindy, Nisly and Claiborne. Those injured were
initially taken to a nearby children's hospital in southwestern Iraq, but
the hospital had been bombed, so they had to be transferred to a secondary
clinic where they received immediate attention from medical staff.
"These Iraqis, whose hospital had just been destroyed by U.S. bombs,
graciously dressed our wounds and gave us medicine -- precious medicine from
their very limited supply due to 12 years of sanctions," Kindy said.
Upon reaching the Jordanian border, Nisly was taken by ambulance to Amman
where he remains hospitalized with possible broken bones. Kindy received
10 stitches for a head wound and Claiborne suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Kindy reported that the nine members of CPT who remain in Baghdad are
continuing their peace ministry which includes visiting hospitals, clinics,
orphanages, churches and mosques. Since the outbreak of the war, the team
has paid visits to families in about 10 different neighborhoods whose homes
were bombed, including a young man, just married, whose wife was
decapitated by a missile strike on their wedding night. CPT lost direct
phone and e-mail communication with the Baghdad team two days ago when U.S.
bombs destroyed a major Iraqi communications facility.
Upon learning of the impending expulsion through a third-party e-mail
message Friday night, CPT notified the U.S. State Department to express
concern that the peacemakers be allowed safe passage through battle
lines. State Department personnel followed the situation and maintained
contact with CPT's Chicago office.
According to Kindy, the group in Amman is now resting and will be gathering
for worship on Sunday at 10:00am local time. Some plan to remain in Amman
to provide additional support for team members who remain in Baghdad -- Jim
Douglas (Birmingham, AL), David Havard (Sheffield, England), Scott Kerr
(Downers Grove, IL), Jerry & Sis Levin (Birmingham, AL), Sean O'Sullivan
(Los Angeles, CA), Lisa Martens (Winnipeg, MB) and Stewart Vriesinga
(Lucknow, ON).
CPT is a faith-based initiative supported by Mennonites, Brethren, Quakers
and several Christian peace groups. Since 1993, CPT has placed
violence-reduction teams in conflict settings in the Middle East, Haiti,
Latin America, Europe and North America. Currently thirty-three full-time
and 115 part-time peacemakers work with CPT in Iraq, Colombia, the West
Bank, and with the Anishnaabe people in northern Ontario.
Voices in the Wilderness has sent delegations to Baghdad since 1996 as part
of its international effort to end the economic sanctions against Iraq and
initiated IPT in September, 2002.
Members of both CPT and IPT have been maintaining a 24-hour-a-day vigil at
a downtown water treatment plant adjacent to a massive hospital complex in
order to deter the bombing of civilian infrastructure, as happened during
the Gulf War.
-30-
Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite
Churches. CPT P. O. Box 6508 Chicago, IL 60680 tel. 773-277-0253; Fax:
773-277-0291, E-Mail cpt@xxxxxxx WEB www.prairienet.org/cpt
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Austin Mennonite Church, (512) 926-3121 www.mennochurch.org
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