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Photo: Afif Sarhan/IRIN

Ibraheem Jaffer, 10, was kidnapped and held hostage for three weeks until his parents paid the ransom demand.

BAGHDAD, 5 February 2007 (IRIN) - “I’m 10 years old and was born in Baghdad. Two months ago, I was kidnapped and was released three weeks later after my family paid a ransom to the kidnappers.

“I was leaving my school, the Kadhimiya School, at the usual time of 11.45 a.m. but my father was late picking me up because sometimes the traffic here is terrible. When I looked in front of me, I saw two men with guns coming towards me. They forced me to get in their car.

“I started to cry. I could hear my teacher shouting from the school gate for help saying I was being kidnapped but it was too late. They blindfolded me with a black cloth and one guy sat right next to me in the back seat. He said if I uttered a word, they would hang me.

“I didn’t know what to do and just cried all the time. During the journey, which I think took about half an hour, the guy sitting next to me started to hit my face each time I cried loudly.

“They then took me to a house and took my blindfold off. The house had no furniture. They gave me food twice a day, mostly unsalted soup. They forced me to speak to my family on the phone. They told me to tell my parents that they were hitting me and threatening to cut my ears off.

“Every day the kidnappers said they’d kill me if my family didn’t pay the ransom. They had their faces covered all the time they were with me.

One of the guys tried to do bad things to me [sexual assault] but thank God another man came and hit his face, forcing him to leave me alone.

“Once, the situation got worse. One of the guys tried to do bad things to me [sexual assault] but thank God another man came and hit his face, forcing him to leave me alone. Then I knew that at least even if they killed me, I was going to die with my dignity intact.

“Eventually, my father sold his shop and my mother sold her gold to pay the US $50,000 ransom that the kidnappers demanded. I do not know how they did this but they paid. Then the kidnappers dropped me off in an empty street. A taxi driver stopped and took me home when I told him my story. The old man started to cry and said he was sorry to see what had become of our country.

“A year ago, my elder brother was nearly kidnapped but it looks like the kidnappers find it easer to kidnap the youngest and smallest children.

“We are packing to travel to Syria next week. My family is scared and afraid that because they paid the ransom, the same people might think we are loaded with money and might return to kidnap my sister or my brother.

“I will miss my friends and my school but I’m happy that we are leaving Iraq - not only because I was kidnapped, but because it’s hard to sleep when you can hear bullets and you’re afraid that you’re going to be the next body in Baghdad’s main morgue.”

as/ar/ed