Mustafa, Age 4

The following text is taken from a letter written about Mustafa’s case by an Iraqi colleague in Jordan:

On the 3rd September 2006, Mustafa (2 and ½ years old then) was with his father “Ahmed” in the car heading home after doing some shopping for the house. They parked the car just outside their house and stood there for a couple of minutes chatting with a couple of Ahmed’s neighbors and friends. Mustafa was standing just beside his father – as all children of his age do. It was sunset time in Saidiya district in South Western Baghdad.

A car came to park slowly in front of the three friends, the window was lowered slowly, and before they knew it, a machine gun nozzle appeared and started shooting at the group. Ahmed and Mustafa were hit at once; the three others ran inside the house to escape the bullets. Two of the men from the car got down and ran inside after the group and finished them off in the kitchen in front of their families and kids; before running away, the attackers shot Ahmed – who was unconscious – again to make sure he was dead.

The neighbors and Ahmed’s wife came out to the rescue and called on the Iraqi police in the checkpoint (200 meters away from Ahmed’s house) to help, but the policemen were afraid and prevented families from hospitalizing their sons. They forced everybody to wait until the ambulance comes for evacuating the injured. Ahmed bled to death while waiting to get to the hospital, one of the friends – who was also called Ahmed – was killed at once, and the third one was shot nine times, but survived. Nobody noticed the two and a half year boy lying there on the sidewalk in the dark until a neighbor passing by saw him and carried him to the hospital. This neighbor was attacked two days after because he helped the young boy; he is now a refugee in Syria.

Mustafa was shot in the head, he was hospitalized in the Neuro-surgical center in Baghdad, but the doctors advised his family to take him to Jordan since the case was a difficult one. He was evacuated to Amman the second day, and immediately was operated on in the Specialty Hospital here in Jordan. Miraculously, the bullet did not injure his brain and only shattered the skull, he recovered after one week and went back with his mother to Baghdad after two weeks. The doctor provided a schedule of scans and tests to be made and continued to follow up through telephones and x rays sent by mail. Mustafa was scheduled for a second operation one year after the first one (i.e. October 2007) to replace the missing skull bones. We managed to obtain official clearance for Mustafa to come to Amman with his mother for the operation, but it took until January 2008 to get them here since they were forcefully displaced from their home and had to resettle to Syria.

Mustafa’s doctor examined him recently and wants to operate on him as soon as possible, he approximates the cost of the operation to be around 4500 JoD (6500 USD), but guarantees the success of the operation and that Mustafa will lead a normal life afterwards.

We would appreciate any support you can provide for this poor child and his devastated mother. Ahmed was my best friend and I hope that when Mustafa will be treated completely, Ahmed will rest in peace.

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