Airmen help Iraqi return home

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Central Air Forces-Forward Public Affairs
U.S. airmen helped bring an Iraqi man back to his homeland now free of Saddam Hussein’s rule.

As part of a U.S.-sponsored media trip Oct. 19 to 23, British-Arab journalists traveled to Basra and Baghdad, Iraq. Khalid Kishtainy, an Iraqi columnist and novelist who has lived in London for many years, returned to his homeland for the first time in 14 years.

Kishtainy was last in Iraq in 1989 when he went to visit a fellow journalist, he said.

“When I got to Baghdad (in 1989), I met with this young admirer who liked my articles about Iraq. This admirer was a columnist in Baghdad,” Kishtainy said. “Over the course of a few days, we went (to) some places, I visited with my family, and on the last night I was there, this young admirer, along with some of his friends, brought me to (an elegant) restaurant.”

Kishtainy said that during that dinner, he could hear the others say to each other, “Should we tell Khalid? Should we tell him now?” Kishtainy said after that, he could not eat any more. It was not until they got to the taxi and started to roll away that Kishtainy was told the story his friends were withholding from him.

“Once we were in the taxi, the young columnist told me that in a recent book I wrote … the first chapter alone would get me two death sentences under the Hussein regime,” Kishtainy said. “The young man also said that he just made mention of the book in one of his columns, and he (spent) six months in jail for it. He only got out of jail after his family pleaded for his release.”

The next morning, Kishtainy’s plane was due to leave then-named Saddam International Airport.

“I couldn’t sleep that whole night thinking one of Saddam’s security people was going to come and arrest me,” Kishtainy said. “It was a very long night.”

As he got to the airport that morning, he said everything seemed fine. As was customary, an airport official took everyone’s passport to get the final stamp. When the official came back, Kishtainy said his was the only one missing.

“An officer wants to see you about your passport,” Kishtainy said the officer told him. “After that, I thought I was done for.”

Kishtainy said he waited for the worst once he got to where the officer was.

“I came in, all worried for my life, and this officer comes over and gives me a hug,” he said. “As it turned out, he said my father was a friend of his father. When he saw the name, he wanted to meet me. From there, he handed me my passport back, and I was on my way back to London.”

Kishtainy said the terror of the former Iraqi regime followed him until he was almost back to Europe.

“It was well-known that Saddam would call an Iraqi Airways plane back even once it was in the air if there was someone on there that he wanted back in Iraq,” Kishtainy said. “It wasn’t until I switched planes and saw the European continent that I knew I was safe.”

For a short time after that, Kishtainy continued to write from London about the regime and its brutality. But one day he received a phone call from his sister begging him to stop writing about Iraq.

“I got the phone call from my sister who was at an Iraqi government intelligence office,” Kishtainy said. “First, my sister talked to me and then an Iraqi intelligence officer spoke and threatened to rape her and make life very hard for my family. So then I promised not to write any more.”

Kishtainy said he kept that promise for more than 12 years, and shortly before the fall of the regime this year, he began writing about Iraq again.

“It had been too many years, and Iraqis needed freedom,” Kishtainy said. “It was very coincidental, but not long after that, they (were free of) Saddam.”

Kishtainy is referring to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the changes that have taken place since then. He said he is “very happy” that Saddam is gone, and his family can live in peace.

On his media trip, Kishtainy went to Basra and Baghdad aboard an Air Force C-130 Hercules, and met with old friends and family. He also got to meet with members of the new Iraqi Governing Council as well to learn about progress the coalition has made since Saddam was ousted. When the C-130 landed in Basra for its first stop, Kishtainy stepped off the plane and said only one line -- “Thanks to America, I can return to my homeland.”