Five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis are heartbroken
from loosing family members in rampant street violence.

AL-FADHIL DISTRICT, BAGHDAD (MARCH 16, 2008) (REUTERS) - Five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis are
heartbroken after loosing family members by rampant street violence. Many
others are also faced with difficulty of finding work and making ends
meet.
     In Baghdad's oldest neighbourhoods, al-Fadhil district, which was
considered one of hottest spots in Baghdad, there are many Iraqis who have
lost loved ones.  Some families have lost two or three members to
violence.
    Umm Ali is an example of Iraqi mother who remains distressed by the
loss of her sons in violence that has plagued Iraq since the U.S. invasion in
2003.
    Her three sons were killed in predominately Shi'ite area of al-Shaab as
they were on their way to work with one of their neighbours.
    "I got only the head of my eldest son. He has three children and
last year he performed the haj (pilgrimage), whereas, my son Ahmed was badly
tortured. Those who did that can not be human beings, they broke all his
bones. The third one was a student at the (Fine Arts) Academy. They were out
to work," She says while holding back tears.
   Umm Wisam is another woman who lost her son in reprisal killings.
    "I went out after him to bid him goodbye....He kissed me and told
me to say "Ya Allah". I begged him not to go and he told me to have
faith in Allah," she said.
    Iraq has been gripped by tit-for-tat sectarian killings between
majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs once dominant under Saddam Hussein. Hundreds
of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence.
    Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, when the
troop build-up was completed. There has been a spike in violence since
January, with an upsurge in suicide bombings linked to al Qaeda.
    Although the situation have improved in some areas, Iraqis are either
killed or wounded in daily attacks or violence with civilians often being
targeted.
    In the Shi'ite sprawling slum of Sadr city, five years of war made them
in far worse conditions. In actual reality, many Iraqis have to put up with
far more severe conditions than they used to be under Saddam Hussein.
    Many residents forgot dreams in better life as they lack all the basic
needs and suffer from various diseases.
    "We hoped that the new situation would be better. We expected new
things that we have not dreamt of but the situation proved to be worse,"
said Aziz Abid who was working on sewerage near his house.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday that
five years after the US-led invasion many Iraqis still lack access to basic
health care, sanitation and clean water.
    ICRC said water supplies have also deteriorated over the past year,
causing shortages and forcing millions to rely on poor-quality supplies. 
    Most people in the vast slum were living in destitution.
    "We do not have rest neither during the day nor at night. We are
living in hell...if we had lunch, we would not have dinner. What did we do? We
have got nothing. We were persecuted under Saddam and we are still
suffering," said Umm Wisam who lives with her family in one room in the
Sadr city.
   People of the slum blamed the government for their hard life, saying
that the government did nothing to improve their living standards.
   "We go out in the morning and we return back at the evening hoping
to get a work. We keep waiting in the street, but with no avail," said
Ayar Radhi, a worker.
    U.S. and Iraqi forces carried out a pinprick raid in Sadr City to get
members of Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr.
    Shi'ites, Iraq's majority Muslim sect, and Kurds suffered terribly
under Saddam, whose Sunni Arab-dominated government crushed dissent through
brutal military campaigns, torture and executions.