Word: shied
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...remains unclear just where the agitation began, or when. But by early last week it had spread through the Shi'ite heartland, which was ripe for trouble. The Shi'ites constitute 55% of Iraq's population of 19 million, but the minority Sunnis, who constitute only 20%, including Saddam and nearly all his aides, have long dominated the country politically...
Another danger for Saddam is political unrest caused by Iraq's severe economic crisis. Some experts believe that if protests start in Shi'ite Muslim areas south of Baghdad, it could bring down the regime...
...experienced five coups since 1958, Saddam's 12 years in power are a record. His Baath Party has imposed stability through control of the army and a network of secret police and informers that penetrates every niche of Iraqi society. If that is swept away, simmering tensions between the Shi'ite Muslims (55% of the population), Sunni Muslims (20%) and Kurds (25%) could conceivably erupt into a communal bloodbath, fragmenting the country into another Lebanon...
Opposition to the Iraqis was extremely well organized in part because it was built around clandestine groups that existed before the occupation. In addition to Shi'ite Muslims opposed to the Emir, these include members of Arafat's Fatah guerrilla organization and Hamas, a more extreme Palestinian group that has been a key participant in the intifadeh in the Israeli-occupied areas. In addition, Ahmed Jibril's pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command has detonated car bombs at Iraqi targets in Kuwait City...
Some of the Shi'ite resistance members are believed to have been part of a secret organization set up by Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. They were there not to support the ruling family of the Emir, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, but to topple it. When the Emir fled the country, however, the same Shi'ites, including women in chadors, came out to demonstrate, brandishing photographs of the Emir. "You shouldn't be surprised at this," said a Western diplomat who lived in Kuwait. "In the Middle East, groups can change sides very quickly...