Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=1/16/2004

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / MAIL

NUMBER=5-54785

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Nine months after major combat operations in Iraq came to an end, most Iraqis still complain bitterly about the lack of security, electricity, jobs and proper infrastructure -- to name but a few of the frustrations of life in the country. But, there has been some rare upbeat news over the past week. New currency notes are now in full circulation in hopes of building confidence in the economy. And, as we hear in this report from V-O-A's Sonja Pace in Baghdad, Iraq's postal system is slowly getting back up and running.

TEXT: Juma'a Abid Ali is the assistant manager of the al-Dawoudi post office in Baghdad, and he says they are open for business six days a week, 12 hours a day.

/// ABID ALI ACT IN ARABIC - FADE UNDER ///

He says the procedure is the same as before the war -- customers bring in their letters and parcels. These are then sent to the central post office for sorting by destination, before being loaded onto vehicles to be sent out.

He says the post office is not running anywhere near full capacity. Before the war it used to handle between 400 and 500 letters a day, while it now gets only a small fraction of that. He thinks that is mainly because many people don't know the post office is in operation.

Juma'a Abid Ali says the al-Dawoudi post office stayed open throughout the war.

/// 2ND ABID ALI ACT IN ARABIC - FADE AND KEEP UNDER ///

He says lots of people used to come then, mainly to make international phone calls. He says people still come in for that, sometimes even American soldiers, who want to call home.

He says the post office still lacks some basic new equipment, and with no commercial flights out of the country, mail travels slowly by road. While many of the procedures are the same as before the war, some things have changed. Juma'a Abid Ali says one important change has been an increase in salaries for postal workers.

/// 3RD ABID ALI ACT IN ARABIC - FADE AND KEEP UNDER ///

"Before," he says, "I used to earn the equivalent of about two-dollars-and-fifty-cents" a month. Now, I get about 150-dollars a month." Of course, he adds, prices have risen sharply since the war and the salary is not good, but it's better than before.

Another change has been the lack of censorship. Under Saddam Hussein's regime, the secret police used to check and monitor mail coming into and out of the central post office. That is no longer the case.

And, within the past week, Iraq's Governing Council has issued new postage stamps and that too is a good thing, says Juma'a Abid Ali.

/// 4th ABID ALI ACT IN ARABIC - FADE UNDER AND SLOWLY OUT ///

He says stamps used to carry portraits of Saddam Hussein. Now, those are gone. People said, 'Saddam's time is finished, it's over. We need new stamps.'

The new stamps range in denominations from 50 Iraqi dinars, or about four U-S cents, to one-thousand dinars, or about 75-cents, and are to have scenes of Iraqi monuments, landscapes and history. The 100-dinar stamp, for example, shows a man in traditional Arab robes driving a horse-drawn carriage carrying a man in a suit.

After the war, most of the post office buildings and vehicles were looted, and even now, only about half of the country's post offices are said to be up and running. But Iraq's communications minister says there is increasingly regular service within Iraq and to points overseas, via Kuwait and Jordan. Of course, no one is sure how long their letter or parcel may take to arrive at its destination.

So, what do Iraqis think of the new postage stamps?

Pharmacist Vian Zernig takes a close look at the 100-dinar stamp.

/// PACE - ZERNIG ACT ///

ZERNIG: Who is that?

PACE: It's just a man in a horse and carriage, but no picture of Saddam. Do you like that?

ZERNIG: Of course, I hate Saddam from the deep of my heart; he hurt us very much.

PACE: Why do you think it's important to have stamps with no picture of Saddam?

ZERNIG: We don't want Saddam anymore. No picture. No, no.

/// END ACT ///

Not everyone feels so strongly. But, across the street, merchant Imad Abdel Karim also thinks the new stamps are important.

/// ABDEL KARIM ACT IN ARABIC - FADER UNDER ///

"We've had enough of Saddam's pictures," he says, "enough of Saddam's statues. It's been 35 years. It's enough for us."

Imad Abdel Karim looks at the stamp with the horse and carriage, and says he would prefer something more modern -- mobile phones maybe -- to portray a modern Iraq.

NEB/SP/MAR/KL/TW