Belizean Muslims uneasy with invasion

With the two most important guarantors of our territorial integrity teamed up to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it is no surprise that any qualms Belmopan may have had about the war have remained private. But on the human level there is great concern about casualties, both among the hundreds of Belizeans fighting as members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the millions of Iraqis now cowering in bomb shelters. For Belizeans of the Muslim faith, the U.S. invasion has been a particularly distressing event.

Nuri Muhammad, Belizean Muslim

“Well I attended the Jumaa today and it was a very serious lecture, or we call it Khutba, that came from the leader of the community, Imam Kalim, and I think his major concern was to say to Muslims that we are all universally concerned about the loss of innocent lives. We are not necessarily condoning what Saddam Hussein has done. Certainly it’s very clear that what Saddam has done, not now, but going back twenty years, has been atrocious and should have been called to check a long time ago. But, now that this attack on the part of the United States and the Allied Forces has started, the concern is not so much for Saddam Hussein, but for those innocent persons who will be affected by this war. In addition, we also noted the fact that even though we live very far away from Iraq, we collectively as a country, Belize and of course Muslims in this country, will be affected by the fallout of that war.”