Iraqi Police divers - help needed

*Clare Gledhill* · January 17th, 2006, 04:27 PM

One of our members - GLOC - has been doing a great job of raising money and collecting kit for a team of police divers in Iraq via another diving website. I am reproducing it here in the hope that one or two of you may feel able to help as fellow divers. The closing date for kit donations is approcahing fast but perhaps you can afford to donate the price of one Nitrox fill?

Clare

This thread is about the article published in the Times here

Terror that drifts beneath the Tigris

Anthony Loyd

He wanted to be Jacques Cousteau, but an Iraqi diver now collects corpses

As a boy Salam Farhan was captivated by the sight of crystal water, silvery fish and treasure that were the stuff of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau on television. So it was natural that he should become a police diver. But now his days are spent beneath the Tigris in a world of mud and near-darkness feeling for corpses with his hands.
“I’m living in a horror film all the time. Sometimes the faces of dead guys stare into my mask or I reach into blackness and grab a hand,” says Salam, 31, one of 14 police divers. “My life isn’t like the TV show. I feel shocked and sad and sometimes nauseous. It’s our reality and it’s tough.”

Under Saddam Hussein’s regime he was mostly repairing broken filtration systems and turbines. But since the US-led invasion of Iraq his work has been more or less confined to recovering murder victims from the oily river.

It’s not just dead Iraqis he finds in its depths, which can be as much as 24 metres (80ft). Salam has pulled up two dead US soldiers, a donkey and cart, and any number of personal possessions.

“One time,” he says, “I touched something huge down there that started moving. I never found out what it was but it was large, alive, and as scared as me.”

Looters have stolen most of the river police’s equipment. Of their 14 boats only four still work. Salam and his team wear torn wetsuits, cheap face masks and flippers.

Their depth dials and compasses are broken and their oxygen compressor leaks so badly that they can remain under water only for 15 minutes before having to surface and recharge their tanks. “You should taste the oxygen,” says Ali, another diver. “Its more like bad garlic than air.”

Coalition sentries stationed in bankside watchtowers along Baghdad’s Green Zone sometimes fire at the police boats, mistaking them for insurgents. And there have been so many rebel attacks on the river police that they have had to move every one of their eight posts to safer locations. Even as Salam speaks at his new riverside base at Jadria, central Baghdad, the radio crackles to warn of an attack on colleagues upstream.

Things are little better when his shift ends.

“I leave all my uniform here and go back to my house in civilian clothes,” Salam says. “I say nothing of my job to anyone.”

Recently his team has been recovering corpses from the al-Aima bridge stampede in August when more than 1,100 Shia worshippers were crushed or drowned. But it was a task in late July that really got to him.

The divers were called to an area of the Tigris near the city’s Selman Park where 20 victims of a death squad were floating in the reeds.

“There were policemen and national guard among them,” Salam says quietly. “Some blindfolded, some handcuffed and bound, some shot, some with their throats cut. Among them was the naked body of a young woman who had been raped and decapitated. I started crying.”

Just occasionally though, among the horror appears a glimpse of what first drew him to diving. “I had a job on the other day in the lake at Habbaniyah where the water is clear,” Salam says. “Ali, my mate, went down first, then came out quick and told me to dive in and see something normal. I dived and down there was a fish, quite big, but just an ordinary fish. It was the most joyful moment, the one thing I’d seen which looked like it was from Jacques Cousteau. I told everyone. I told the world about it.”

==================================================

The article was brought to the attention of GLOC by this thread. There were lots of offers of support from the readership of YD and I decided to act as POC for this very worthy cause.

==================================================

I have finally made contact with the team (30 Oct 05) after a couple of weeks of political wrangling and diplomacy and have received the following email.

Gareth,

At last!! I have finally made contact with Salam through an interpreter. Naturally the conversation was emotional as he was overjoyed with the offer of assistance for him and his team of twelve.

The main priority for him is dry and wet suits we are now coming into the Winter and the temperature drops dramatically however I will now draw up a list of his requirements. He is eternally grateful and will accept almost anything.!!

Dry/Wet Suits All sizes but mostly Large
Masks
Snorkels
Fins
Regulators
BCD's
Cylinders
Gloves/Socks
Lift Bags
T Shirts (to give them Uniformity)

Thats about it, I cant emphasise enough the joy Salam expressed and any donation you and your fellow divers make will make a massive difference to their working day.

================================================== ======

How To Help

If you would like to help you can either donate money through Paypal (baghdaddivingappeal@yorkshire-divers.co.uk), transfer money directly into a bank account I have opened up for this cause with Smile (PM me for account details as I would rather not have the account number and sort code published for harvesting!) or donate equipment Phill has offered his services to store equipment that has been donated.

Money: If you want to donate money and not be identified because the amount you can give is not as much as everyone else, no problems, all monies will be gratefully received irrespective of the amount and I will anotate your donation as 'Anon' on the spreadsheet.

Equipment: If you are going to donate equipment please check the spreadheet to see if anything is still required or email me before so that I can see if we have enough of them already. The last thing I want to do is ship 20 sets of fins out and no masks etc as shipping space maybe limited. Any equipment donations should be sent to Phill at www.divingniknaks.co.uk, address as per his site.

I will be keeping a spreadheet of all donations, both money and equipment, for all to see. Webpage Export of Excel sheet

What I propose to do with donations of money is to provide as many complete sets of equipment as possible which can be shared amongst the team rather than 12 sets of regs and no dry/wet suits. However, I am open to suggestions as this is your money being donated.

Finally, if anyone has any comments or suggestions please PM or email me.

And, finally, finally, many thanks for your support in this very worthy cause.

__________________
Gareth
www.imagesoflife-online.co.uk

Little Pete · January 17th, 2006, 04:49 PM

I've got a set of Avanti X-3 fins that aren't getting use. I'll get in touch and send them up to Phill if they're wanted.

Very worthy cause.

**Howard Payne** · January 17th, 2006, 05:24 PM

I hear pink mask straps look good with a Burkah n'all

Divingniknaks · January 17th, 2006, 06:11 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Little Pete)

I've got a set of Avanti X-3 fins that aren't getting use. I'll get in touch and send them up to Phill if they're wanted.

Very worthy cause.

We'll take 'em gladly, Post 'em up young sir

Much appreciated.

ahar · January 17th, 2006, 06:57 PM

I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it?

Little Pete · January 17th, 2006, 07:30 PM

Quote:

I hear pink mask straps look good with a Burkah n'all

That's it, this mask strap mickey taking has gone on too long. I'm going to get myself up to Tech 3, Cave 3, RB 2 and then make sure there are pics of me wearing that slap strap 6km into Wakulla......then you'll see......

.....after that the world!!!

PS: Napoleon complex? Who me?

GLOC · January 17th, 2006, 07:35 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar)

I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it?

Not quite, I am closing it at the end of January, so if you want to donate, please go ahead. All the details are on the YD post.

Thanks

Gareth

scubajay · January 17th, 2006, 07:37 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar)

I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it?

There is always time if you want to donate. I secured some gear from Oceanic. In lieu of £675 they owed me, they donated kit worth £805, and it is being got together for me as we speak - won't be in Phil's mitts until at least next week. If you have gear, or want to Paypal a donation, however small, then feel free to do so, as all gifts will be gladly received.

*Clare Gledhill* · January 17th, 2006, 07:39 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar)

I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it?

They are looking to close it Andy, but reading that I asked Gareth if he would hang on to give people on here a chance to help out.

Go on folks - Paypal the price of one dive - it will make a difference and I guarantee that the Gods of calm seas and good viz will smile at you on your next one

[1]

[1] OK I can'y promise this...but I can promise you a warm fuzzy feeling that, for once at least, doesn't come from peeing in your wetsuit :p

wilbo · January 18th, 2006, 08:39 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Gledders)

They are looking to close it Andy, but reading that I asked Gareth if he would hang on to give people on here a chance to help out.

Go on folks - Paypal the price of one dive - it will make a difference and I guarantee that the Gods of calm seas and good viz will smile at you on your next one

[1]

[1] OK I can'y promise this...but I can promise you a warm fuzzy feeling that, for once at least, doesn't come from peeing in your wetsuit :p

and Clare will donate some of her chocolate to you..

January 17th, 2006, 04:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill(Offline) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,547	Iraqi Police divers - help needed One of our members - GLOC - has been doing a great job of raising money and collecting kit for a team of police divers in Iraq via another diving website. I am reproducing it here in the hope that one or two of you may feel able to help as fellow divers. The closing date for kit donations is approcahing fast but perhaps you can afford to donate the price of one Nitrox fill? Clare This thread is about the article published in the Times here Terror that drifts beneath the Tigris Anthony Loyd He wanted to be Jacques Cousteau, but an Iraqi diver now collects corpses As a boy Salam Farhan was captivated by the sight of crystal water, silvery fish and treasure that were the stuff of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau on television. So it was natural that he should become a police diver. But now his days are spent beneath the Tigris in a world of mud and near-darkness feeling for corpses with his hands. “I’m living in a horror film all the time. Sometimes the faces of dead guys stare into my mask or I reach into blackness and grab a hand,” says Salam, 31, one of 14 police divers. “My life isn’t like the TV show. I feel shocked and sad and sometimes nauseous. It’s our reality and it’s tough.” Under Saddam Hussein’s regime he was mostly repairing broken filtration systems and turbines. But since the US-led invasion of Iraq his work has been more or less confined to recovering murder victims from the oily river. It’s not just dead Iraqis he finds in its depths, which can be as much as 24 metres (80ft). Salam has pulled up two dead US soldiers, a donkey and cart, and any number of personal possessions. “One time,” he says, “I touched something huge down there that started moving. I never found out what it was but it was large, alive, and as scared as me.” Looters have stolen most of the river police’s equipment. Of their 14 boats only four still work. Salam and his team wear torn wetsuits, cheap face masks and flippers. Their depth dials and compasses are broken and their oxygen compressor leaks so badly that they can remain under water only for 15 minutes before having to surface and recharge their tanks. “You should taste the oxygen,” says Ali, another diver. “Its more like bad garlic than air.” Coalition sentries stationed in bankside watchtowers along Baghdad’s Green Zone sometimes fire at the police boats, mistaking them for insurgents. And there have been so many rebel attacks on the river police that they have had to move every one of their eight posts to safer locations. Even as Salam speaks at his new riverside base at Jadria, central Baghdad, the radio crackles to warn of an attack on colleagues upstream. Things are little better when his shift ends. “I leave all my uniform here and go back to my house in civilian clothes,” Salam says. “I say nothing of my job to anyone.” Recently his team has been recovering corpses from the al-Aima bridge stampede in August when more than 1,100 Shia worshippers were crushed or drowned. But it was a task in late July that really got to him. The divers were called to an area of the Tigris near the city’s Selman Park where 20 victims of a death squad were floating in the reeds. “There were policemen and national guard among them,” Salam says quietly. “Some blindfolded, some handcuffed and bound, some shot, some with their throats cut. Among them was the naked body of a young woman who had been raped and decapitated. I started crying.” Just occasionally though, among the horror appears a glimpse of what first drew him to diving. “I had a job on the other day in the lake at Habbaniyah where the water is clear,” Salam says. “Ali, my mate, went down first, then came out quick and told me to dive in and see something normal. I dived and down there was a fish, quite big, but just an ordinary fish. It was the most joyful moment, the one thing I’d seen which looked like it was from Jacques Cousteau. I told everyone. I told the world about it.” ================================================== The article was brought to the attention of GLOC by this thread. There were lots of offers of support from the readership of YD and I decided to act as POC for this very worthy cause. ================================================== I have finally made contact with the team (30 Oct 05) after a couple of weeks of political wrangling and diplomacy and have received the following email. Gareth, At last!! I have finally made contact with Salam through an interpreter. Naturally the conversation was emotional as he was overjoyed with the offer of assistance for him and his team of twelve. The main priority for him is dry and wet suits we are now coming into the Winter and the temperature drops dramatically however I will now draw up a list of his requirements. He is eternally grateful and will accept almost anything.!! Dry/Wet Suits All sizes but mostly Large Masks Snorkels Fins Regulators BCD's Cylinders Gloves/Socks Lift Bags T Shirts (to give them Uniformity) Thats about it, I cant emphasise enough the joy Salam expressed and any donation you and your fellow divers make will make a massive difference to their working day. ================================================== ====== How To Help If you would like to help you can either donate money through Paypal (baghdaddivingappeal@yorkshire-divers.co.uk), transfer money directly into a bank account I have opened up for this cause with Smile (PM me for account details as I would rather not have the account number and sort code published for harvesting!) or donate equipment Phill has offered his services to store equipment that has been donated. Money: If you want to donate money and not be identified because the amount you can give is not as much as everyone else, no problems, all monies will be gratefully received irrespective of the amount and I will anotate your donation as 'Anon' on the spreadsheet. Equipment: If you are going to donate equipment please check the spreadheet to see if anything is still required or email me before so that I can see if we have enough of them already. The last thing I want to do is ship 20 sets of fins out and no masks etc as shipping space maybe limited. Any equipment donations should be sent to Phill at www.divingniknaks.co.uk, address as per his site. I will be keeping a spreadheet of all donations, both money and equipment, for all to see. Webpage Export of Excel sheet What I propose to do with donations of money is to provide as many complete sets of equipment as possible which can be shared amongst the team rather than 12 sets of regs and no dry/wet suits. However, I am open to suggestions as this is your money being donated. Finally, if anyone has any comments or suggestions please PM or email me. And, finally, finally, many thanks for your support in this very worthy cause. __________________ Gareth www.imagesoflife-online.co.uk __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk

January 17th, 2006, 05:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
Howard Payne(Offline) Strokey Dokily Doo Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,204	I hear pink mask straps look good with a Burkah n'all __________________ The Foxturd Chimp

January 17th, 2006, 06:11 PM	#4 (permalink)
Divingniknaks(Offline) Resident purveyor of shiney kit.... Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midlands UK Posts: 1,038	Quote: (Originally Posted by Little Pete) I've got a set of Avanti X-3 fins that aren't getting use. I'll get in touch and send them up to Phill if they're wanted. Very worthy cause. We'll take 'em gladly, Post 'em up young sir Much appreciated. __________________ Phill ----------------------------- Salvo Lights, DirZone Gear , Frog Wings Dive ? http://www.divingniknaks.com

January 17th, 2006, 06:57 PM	#5 (permalink)
ahar(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Harrow - NW London Posts: 42	I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it? __________________ There are 10 types of people in this world - those that understand binary and those that don't.

January 17th, 2006, 07:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
scubajay(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Great Totham, Essex Posts: 59	Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar) I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it? There is always time if you want to donate. I secured some gear from Oceanic. In lieu of £675 they owed me, they donated kit worth £805, and it is being got together for me as we speak - won't be in Phil's mitts until at least next week. If you have gear, or want to Paypal a donation, however small, then feel free to do so, as all gifts will be gladly received. __________________ We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. 20,000mm Under the Sea

January 17th, 2006, 04:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
Little Pete(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 509	I've got a set of Avanti X-3 fins that aren't getting use. I'll get in touch and send them up to Phill if they're wanted. Very worthy cause.

January 17th, 2006, 07:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
Little Pete(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 509	Quote: I hear pink mask straps look good with a Burkah n'all That's it, this mask strap mickey taking has gone on too long. I'm going to get myself up to Tech 3, Cave 3, RB 2 and then make sure there are pics of me wearing that slap strap 6km into Wakulla......then you'll see...... .....after that the world!!! PS: Napoleon complex? Who me?

January 17th, 2006, 07:35 PM	#7 (permalink)
GLOC(Offline) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Fleet, Hants Posts: 1,994	Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar) I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it? Not quite, I am closing it at the end of January, so if you want to donate, please go ahead. All the details are on the YD post. Thanks Gareth

January 17th, 2006, 07:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill(Offline) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,547	Quote: (Originally Posted by ahar) I'm sure I read on YD that they've closed the appeal for the moment and they are now consolidating the kit they have and looking to ship it? They are looking to close it Andy, but reading that I asked Gareth if he would hang on to give people on here a chance to help out. Go on folks - Paypal the price of one dive - it will make a difference and I guarantee that the Gods of calm seas and good viz will smile at you on your next one [1] [1] OK I can'y promise this...but I can promise you a warm fuzzy feeling that, for once at least, doesn't come from peeing in your wetsuit :p __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk Last edited by Clare Gledhill; January 17th, 2006 at 07:43 PM.

January 18th, 2006, 08:39 AM	#10 (permalink)
wilbo(Offline) Chimp 4 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Swindon, UK Posts: 877	Quote: (Originally Posted by Gledders) They are looking to close it Andy, but reading that I asked Gareth if he would hang on to give people on here a chance to help out. Go on folks - Paypal the price of one dive - it will make a difference and I guarantee that the Gods of calm seas and good viz will smile at you on your next one [1] [1] OK I can'y promise this...but I can promise you a warm fuzzy feeling that, for once at least, doesn't come from peeing in your wetsuit :p and Clare will donate some of her chocolate to you.. __________________ Cheers! Wilbo DIR explorers: DIR Yorkshire Divers: YorkshireDivers One of the Foxturd chimps