| 2008: Iraq reopens bombed bridge |
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May 30, 2008 Iraqi officials reopened a landmark Baghdad bridge on Tuesday after it was destroyed by a truck bomb last year, vowing to defeat terrorists and unite a country ravaged by sectarian strife. Snipers took up positions along the rebuilt Sarafiya bridge as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki led the ceremony beneath the structure. "We have to mark this day to declare the victory of the generous will of Iraq which was not defeated," he told the crowd of mostly army and police officers. "A year ago when this bridge was blasted, Iraq was slipping into the brink of civil war." The violence has since eased. The bombing of one of Baghdad's most famous landmarks was not only an attack on the city's infrastructure. Some saw the attack -- one of several on bridges at the time -- as part of a more sinister plot by insurgents to split Baghdad into a Shi'ite east bank and a Sunni west bank. Shootings and bombings killed many Sunnis and Shi'ites on both sides of the Tigris River and spread panic across mixed neighborhoods as militias carved up the city. "The destruction of the bridge was a clear and pronounced message by terrorists to the Iraqis that they want to sabotage Iraq, cut roads and bridges and then demolish the country, "Maliki told the gathering. Baghdad, a city of 7 million, has been religiously mixed for most of its history since it was founded about 1,200 years ago by Abbasid Caliph al Mansour. Its dozen bridges linking the east side with the west were once a symbol of Baghdad's diversity, where Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs, ethnic Kurds and Christians lived together. Two young boys were in disbelief after Maliki reopened the bridge, built by the British in the 1940s. "I am so happy. I want to play on the bridge every day," said Ali, 10, to his friend. Most of the officials at the event were Shi'ites and the Sunni area on the western side of the bridge remained closed off by two Iraqi army Humvee vehicles. An elderly man was skeptical the reopening could help heal Iraqis' sectarian scars anytime soon. "Everybody is bragging this bridge could reunite Iraqis, but I think they never realized the other end is blocked. Withwhom can we reunite?" said Abu Murtadha, a retired teacher who lives in the mainly Shi'ite al-Autaifiya neighborhood. It took 450 engineers, workers and technicians to rebuild the bridge at a cost of 33 billion Iraqi dinars ($27 million). Iraqi divers were able to retrieve about 1,000 tons of metal and cement after the bridge was demolished and use it in reconstruction. An official date has not been set for motorists to start using the bridge again. But Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, said one thing was certain: "We will never allow trucks to move again over this bridge, we should learn lessons," he said. |