The journey where death waits around every turn

By Julius Strauss in Mahmudiyah

1 June 2004

THE gang waited until they had a clear shot at the white four-wheel-drive. Then they fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the side, incinerating a Japanese journalist and his translator. A second Japanese was dragged away and shot.

A little later that day, a few miles to the north, the men of violence were back at work. They sprayed bullets into a convoy carrying Salama al-Khafaji, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, killing three bodyguards and her son.

Welcome to Mahmudiyah, an unremarkable dormitory town housing Baghdad's middle classes that has now become a shooting gallery for Iraqi gunmen intent on killing westerners.

In a country where banditry, fanaticism and cruelty are now the norm, and foreigners take their lives in their hands each time they venture outside their compounds, Mahmudiyah has the dubious distinction of straddling the most dangerous stretches of road in Iraq. Until recently it was seen as dangerous but passable for foreigners.

Western contractors and Iraqi officials travelled in armoured four-wheel-drives with bodyguards; journalists slouched in the back of cheaper saloons. But that has changed.

The killing of westerners - and those branded as Iraqi collaborators - is now routine. There are sometimes several victims a day. The town has been militant for some time.

In January two employees of the American news network CNN were killed when their car was riddled with bullets as they drove through. A month ago a Pole and an Algerian - also journalists - were shot dead just south of the town, possibly after being spotted in one of the frequent traffic jams.

Gunmen emptied a magazine from a Kalashnikov through the back window. But now the violence has soared, turning Mahmudiyah into a virtual no-go area, making it perilous even for heavily armoured military vehicles to use the main artery from Baghdad to the Shia holy cities of Najaf, Karbala and Kufa.

Journalists seeking to cover the fighting between US forces and Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army militia must run the gauntlet, crouching out of view in the back seat and hoping for an unobstructed run.

By any measure, the trip is a nerve-jangling experience. The slightest shunt with a local driver could lead to discovery and death. Last Friday we spent nearly two hours trying to break through the traffic jams and roadblocks and get back to Baghdad.

With each new obstacle the risk of discovery increased and we doubled back again and again.

No one is quite sure why Mahmudiya has turned so nasty. There are rumours that a band of outsiders - perhaps with al-Qa'eda links - has set up there. The US military, which controls the area, should make it safe but soldiers are unable to protect even themselves.

Just south of Mahmudiyah last Thursday a US convoy was ambushed on a bridge. Debris lay scattered on the road and soldiers, crouched in the firing position, set up a security perimeter. They looked terrified.