Baghdad Calling -- Where Is Raed?

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

Where Is Raed?
<http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/>

*****   Baghdad calling

There are dozens of journalists and TV cameras in the Iraqi capital.
But the most vivid account of the build-up to war and the start of
the bombing has appeared on the internet - on the weblog of an
unknown Iraqi writing under the name Salam Pax. But who is he? Leo
Hickman investigates

Monday March 24, 2003
The Guardian

A 29-year-old, middle-class man somewhere in the suburbs of the Iraqi
capital has become one of the most intriguing stories on the
internet. Known simply as Salam Pax, his online diary has fascinated
the web's myriad users with its sharp observations of a tumultuous
six months for the beleaguered Iraqi nation that has included a
presidential election, yet another UN resolution, its resulting
weapons inspectors and, of course, the approach of war.

As the build-up to conflict intensified, more and more people became
drawn - through forwarded emails, weblogs, or message boards - to the
compelling musings of what appeared to be an educated, if cynical,
young man in Baghdad waiting for war. His diary, mysteriously titled
Where is Raed?, has recorded, with humour and in eloquent detail, the
anxieties of the Iraqi capital's besieged citizens as they awaited
attack - their rush to tape up windows, the stockpiling of groceries,
the increased presence of menacing Ba'ath party officials on the
streets. By last Friday, as American B52s finally homed in on
Baghdad, the website had become the most linked-to web diary on the
internet as visitors, in fear of his safety, eagerly awaited his next
posting. At the time of going to press, Salam hadn't posted again
since Friday....

[The full text is available at
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,920542,00.html>.]   *****

24.03.2003: Salam's Diary:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,920506,00.html>
--
Yoshie

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