http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=567212006
How to survive in Iraq: change your name
OMAR AL-IBADI
IN BAGHDAD
SOME flee the country. Others buy weapons. But Iraqis lining up at a
state registry said the best protection against sectarian violence was
a new name.
"I changed my name to Abdullah because it is neutral. It could be Sunni
or Shiite. My life is more precious than my name," said Omar Sami, a
Sunni university student.
Iraqis have become increasingly fearful that their religious allegiance
could cost them their lives. Names, many of which identify which sect
you are from, have become a matter of life or death.
Hit squads and kidnappings have forced some people to apply legally for
a new identity, a painful move in a country consumed by sectarian
passions.
Shiites named Ali become Omar and Sunnis named Osman call themselves
Hussein, hoping to survive in densely populated mixed districts where
people are killed in sectarian street attacks every week.
In Baghdad, where the two communities live side by side and people are
often challenged at checkpoints or randomly by armed men, some choose
the safest option of adopting neutral names, such as Ahmed or Mohammad,
used by Shiites and Sunnis alike.
Ayman al-Azzawi, a Sunni taxi driver queuing up at the registry, said
driving customers through Shiite or Sunni areas was like crossing
minefields. Erasing his identity was the only option.
"I'm here to try to change my surname or even to omit it completely
from my civil status card," he said. "I live in Baghdad al-Jadeeda,
where many were killed for just being Sunnis or Shiites."
The last names of Iraqis are tribal. So anyone who wants a new name
must first get permission from a new tribe and then go through the
registry office, a small room overflowing with files.
"Forty per cent of the people who come here change their names for
sectarian reasons," said the registry clerk, who declined to give his
name.
Iraqis say changing names was all but impossible under the former
president, Saddam Hussein, whose pervasive intelligence agencies
immediately became suspicious of such requests.
These days it's much easier. The process of registering a new name
takes about a month.
"It's really hard to change my name, but I have a family to raise and
look after. I will omit my surname from my ID in case I can't change my
name," said Hassan al-Mosawi, the Shiite owner of an appliance shop.
Some clothing and rings can also identify the wearer's sect, but many
people shun such signs to keep safe.
People like Abu Ali al-Maliki are vulnerable. The 52-year-old Shiite
lives in Baghdad's most dangerous district, Dora, a Sunni area
controlled by militants and Saddam Hussein loyalists.
"I have been advised to change my sons' names from Ali, Hassan and
Fatima to Sunni names. Many Shiites and Sunnis were killed in cold
blood just because of their sect," he said. "I want to live in peace
and don't want my children to die just because of their names."
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