Italy's Muslims rally behind the government in its desperate bid to release Italian hostages in Iraq, writes Samia Nkrumah from Rome The plight of the two Italian and two Iraqi aid workers kidnapped in Baghdad last week was met with unprecedented expressions of solidarity and support by the different Muslim organisations in Italy. As part of a campaign for the release of the hostages, thousands of Muslims in Italy took to the streets all across the country from the far northern city of Trento to Sicily in the south on 11 September. More than 20 Italian cities saw their streets overwhelmed with demonstrations in support of the kidnapped humanitarian workers. The names of the Italian hostages, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, as well as the Iraqis, Mahnaz Bassam and Raad Ali Abdul-Aziz, were scribbled all over T-shirts, banners and flags. All four were volunteers with the Italian NGO Un Ponte Per Baghdad (A Bridge For Baghdad). The 11 September processions were organised by the Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations in Italy (UCOII) and the Association of Muslim Women in Italy (ADMI). UCOII's National Secretary Hamza Roberto Piccardo, an Italian who converted to Islam, told Al-Ahram Weekly : "We have taken to the streets to appeal for the release of the aid workers. We regret that such action is committed under the banner of our faith. We are forcefully saying that such action has nothing to do with Islam. Indeed, such action is completely contrary to Islam and because it is contrary to Islam it cannot under any circumstances serve the interests of Muslims," protested Piccardo. UCOII, representing the congregations of more than 120 mosques around the country, has made similar appeals on Al-Jazeera TV for the release of the two women and in demonstration of support for all "peace workers" in Iraq. UCOII President Mohamed Nour Dachan, who has visited the families of the two Italian hostages, subsequently said in an interview with the daily L'Unita : "Muslims in Italy are united against any violence." Indeed, the kidnapping incidents are met with a common response by different Muslim organisations in Italy that are normally plagued by divisions with some bearing the tag of "moderate" and others that of "radical". UCOII is staunchly opposed to the invasion and occupation of Iraq and has also called during last week's procession for the end of the spiral of violence that is increasingly claiming among its victims civilians, including women and children. In Rome, the head of the Muslim World League in Italy, Mario Scialoja, met with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi last week. Scialoja, a former Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia who is himself a convert to Islam, was accompanied by a delegation of leaders of other Muslim organisations. Together they presented a "document against terrorism" in their capacity as signatories. On the same day, Friday prayers and appeals for the release of the hostages were recorded at Rome's main mosque and broadcast on television in various Arab countries. The League's permanent offices are in the Islamic Cultural Centre, which also houses Rome's biggest mosque. Just a day before the protests organised by Muslim organisations in Italy, around 80,000 people took part in a torch-lit procession in Rome. The march was organised by the A Bridge For Baghdad as well as by the Stop the War group. There too, Arabs, Somalis, Kurds and Bosnian Muslims came out in large numbers. The kidnapping of the two Italian women has perplexed the Italian public. A Bridge For Baghdad has been operating in Iraq since 1991, and has been a strong critic of the decade-long embargo imposed on Iraq since the first Gulf War. The agency promoted humanitarian aid to Iraqis especially in schools. The kidnapping of the two Italian female volunteers comes on the heels of the gruesome execution of another Italian, the self-declared pacifist, freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni. Gino Strada, head of Emergency, another Italian NGO specialising in bringing medical and surgical assistance to victims of armed conflicts, offered an explanation in an interview with the daily La Repubblica. According to Strada, the growing confusion over the role of foreign workers in Iraq, as in Afghanistan, is one factor that could be putting at risk the lives of NGO workers. He reiterated the words of the Doctors Without Borders director in Italy, Stefano Savi, who said that if in the first instance, the belligerent states are not seen as neutral, inevitably extremists will chose NGOs as targets. Such actions could be seen as part of a tactic to eliminate pacifists, reasons Strada, whether they are aid workers or journalists who are not on one side or the other of the war. The same might be happening in Iraq as in Chechnya when all NGOs left the country after six Red Cross workers were killed in cold blood. There are around 10 Italian organisations in Baghdad, Basra and Iraqi Kurdistan with about 20 volunteers including those working in specific projects. Some are already leaving the country and handing over their work to Iraqi colleagues. A spokesperson from A Bridge For Baghdad in Rome did confirm that the agency has ceased operating in Baghdad since the kidnapping. Just a week before its volunteers were taken hostage, rockets hit a house opposite the offices of A Bridge For Baghdad and there have been similar incidents in nearby areas resulting in civilian casualties. While the mass processions were taking place, Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawar was in Rome meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as part of a European tour seeking assistance for the reconstruction of Iraq. The visit was described as ill-timed by peace activists charging that it would not be welcomed by Iraqi opponents of the new government and the occupation, those who might be in a better position to communicate with the kidnappers. In much the same vein, efforts to release the hostages are not helped by the intensification of the fighting over the last week in Falluja and Sadr City, Baghdad. The Italian government on its part has for the first time responded with caution to the requests made on the site www.islamic-minbar.com signed by the group Ansar Al-Zawahri. The group requested that all Muslim women held in Iraqi prisons or under investigation be freed in exchange for the release of the two Italian women. The Italian government has promised to do its utmost to see that any innocent prisoner held in captivity would be freed. However, media reports here are pointing to certain discrepancies in witnesses' accounts of the kidnapping incident. The reportedly quick manner of the kidnapping, executed by armed men in three cars in broad daylight a few blocks away from a US army checkpoint, is unusual. In addition, the kidnappers apparently had to read from a list the names of those whom they wanted to seize. The identity of the kidnappers is still a big mystery. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has just begun a tour of some Gulf countries and Italian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Margherita Boniver is currently visiting Cairo, Amman and Damascus, among other Arab capitals, seeking support from those Arab countries. Rome wants Arab capitals to work harder for the release of the Italian hostages. From Cairo, Boniver made an appeal on Al-Jazeera for the release of the kidnapped Italian aid workers.
