KIRKUK, IRAQ // Inside a building next to the road to Kirkuk, a man enters the neon-lit room.
His eyes covered with a checkered cloth and his hands shackled, he steps cautiously into the room, ushered by a member of the Kurdish intelligence service — the Asayesh.
The man, identified as HS, 30, was arrested by the Kurds at a checkpoint near Kirkuk in February. When interrogated, he confessed to working for ISIL and attempting to infiltrate the Iraqi military.
Once sat down and his blindfold removed, his eyes unleashed a fiery gaze.
As a young man, HS was part of Saddam Hussein’s army. His livelihood was cut short when the Americans disbanded Iraq’s armed forces after the 2003 invasion. His frustration soon turned to anger, and like many other unemployed soldiers, he joined the bloody insurgency against US occupation.
The Al Qaeda-inspired violence unleashed in Iraq after the second Gulf war was fuelled by the resentment of Iraq’s defeated army.
Economic grievances, nationalist pride and religious fundamentalism fused together to create a plethora of terrorist outfits under the banner of extremism.
The diverse set of motivations drove HS to ambush US patrols, firing machine gun rounds and rocket-propelled grenades into passing convoys of Humvees under the cover of darkness.
“We fought the Americans because they were trying to take over our country,” he said.
But he rejected the notion that he was more of a nationalist than an extremist.
“No, I did it for God,” he said firmly, briefly casting aside his anxious deference towards his captors.
All the same, his personal “jihad” came to an abrupt end when he was kicked out of his terror cell for drinking alcohol.
In the years that followed, he struggled to make ends meet, and to feed his four children.
When ISIL surged across Iraq towards Baghdad last year, the group’s advance took them into his native Hawija province.
HS suddenly found himself a target of ISIL’s recruitment drive, and was soon pressed into their service.
While he admits driving fuel lorries for the militants, transporting petrol from Mosul to Hawija, he insists that he does not subscribe to ISIL’s murderous interpretation of Islam.
He subtly shakes his head when the Asayesh officer accuses him of being part of ISIL.
The terrorists threatened to kick him out of his home if he refused to truck petrol for them, he said. They followed up on their threat by taking his house and car when he left for Kirkuk in February. According to the Asayesh, he came to the city to join the Iraqi army as an ISIL operative.
Kirkuk was swiftly occupied by Kurdish Peshmerga forces when the Iraqi army was swept aside by ISIL, halting the militants’ advance and taking control of a city that the Kurds have always regarded as their own.
Kirkuk is not part of the Kurdish autonomous region, and the city’s ethnic fault lines were changed under Saddam, who sought to dilute the Kurdish majority with an influx of Arabs.
With ISIL recruiting heavily amongst Sunni Arabs, the city is a security headache for the Kurds, who have responded by establishing tight security controls. Arabs suspected of ISIL sympathies are swiftly arrested.
Interviews with other alleged ISIL militants held by the Kurds near Kirkuk show that while ISIL’s brand of extremism may be what attracts foreign recruits, in Iraq, support for the militant group is often much less ideological.
Resentment, fear, and opportunism are simple but powerful factors that drive recruitment in ISIL.
SA, 46, was already a long time resident of Kirkuk when he was picked up by the Asayesh.
During interrogation, he admitted to being recruited by ISIL, who secured his loyalty with a series of cash payments totalling around US$5,000 (Dh 18,365).
As a former member of the Iraqi military intelligence under Saddam, and with good connections to the influential Rishawi tribe in Ramadi, the militants felt he was worth the money.
SA had left the military to become a taxi driver well before the Americans entered Iraq. He said he earned well, and was not persuaded to join ISIL out of hardship.
He too denied being convinced by ISIL’s radical ideologies.
The lure of an additional income aside, he claimed it was the marginalisation of Sunnis in post-Saddam Iraq that motivated his decision to join the group.
During the reign of Shiite prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, Sunnis were systematically purged from the army and top government positions, and peaceful demonstrations in Anbar province were brutally suppressed in the spring of 2014, paving the way for ISIL’s lightning advance through the Sunni-dominated province.
“We feel that we are not represented by the government,” said SA. “We saw that Sunnis were being victimised.”
By the time WJ had thrown in his lot with ISIL, resentment of Shiite dominance had given way to fear of retribution.
A Sunni from Salahuddin province, the 32-year-old confessed to joining ISIL last August.
The terror group had just massacred hundreds of Shiite soldiers that were captured during the attack on Mosul, and WJ felt that the threat of sectarian backlash forced him to take sides.
After ISIL came to Salahuddin, he and a few of his fellow villagers pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL’s self-declared “caliphate”. He spent a few months manning ISIL checkpoints until, one day in October, he was told to join a unit attacking a nearby Shiite village.
The attack lasted from morning to evening, with the militant group eventually beaten back.
The failure shattered his belief in ISIL’s military prowess, and caused him to reassess his situation.
He left his village for Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk, believing the city would be a safer option than ISIL territory.
“I left with my family because our opponents were stronger,” he said, before being led away by the Asayesh.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
THE CARD
2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
