Iraqi lecturer in M'sia congratulates Iraq on Mosul's liberation
KUALA LUMPUR: “Mabrook li kul Al Iraqeen.” (Congratulations to all Iraqis)
This was the joyous and impassioned message from an Iraqi residing in Malaysia for the past 15 years, to the Iraqi Government as its people celebrated the liberation of the city of Mosul from the Daesh militant group.
Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology senior lecturer Dr Yahya Muneed Ahmad said the liberation of that city was a big day for all Iraqi people as the victory marked an end to the devastation faced by its people.
“All Iraqis have been waiting for this and somehow, it is special for me because my parents are from Mosul. Thank God, for this. Thank you, to the army. I wish the entire people in the world live peacefully, and I hope Mosul (peace and development) will be back on track soon,” the 54-yearold told Bernama when met at the Iraqi Embassy here yesterday to celebrate Mosul's liberation.
Mosul, 400km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad had come under Daesh control since June 2014. The militants used the city as its base and occupied large swathes of land in Iraq's northern and western regions.
The Daesh lost its hold on Mosul after it was defeated by Iraqi armed forces following a nearly nine-month warfare.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Monday that Mosul was liberated from Daesh after nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.
Agreeing with Yahya, his wife, Dr Suhair Kammona, 52, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the army and the Iraqi police forces that strived through the ‘painful' journey to save Mosul from the militant attacks.
“When I heard that Mosul was finally declared free from Daesh, I cried. It was the (most) expensive tears that I ever had. Alhamdulillah. We should live in harmonious environment,” said the fashion designer who was dressed in camouflage material to show her support towards Mosul.
A Universiti Putra Malaysia PhD student Mohammed Ibrahim, 50, who was originally born in Mosul shared the Iraqis' experiences in facing the terror acts of the militant group, including stealing money, destroying buildings, killing innocent people and leaving others with a life of devastation.
“If you merely take the Iraqi flag, Daesh (militants) will kill you. If men want to sport beard, they need to pay 50,000 Iraqi dinar (about RM185) monthly, but most of them do not earn a salary because the Daesh (militants) will take away the money to make themselves strong to fight with everyone.
“The militants also forced the kids to join them, and if they refused, their mother or father would be killed. These are some of the ruthless acts by the Daesh... heartless... and the militants (had also) torched the University of Mosul's library, causing almost 60,000 books and manuscripts to go up in smoke,” he added.
Iraqi Ambassador to Malaysia, Prof Dr Basim Hattab AlTumma said the number of civilians killed during the Mosul attack period was in the region of 100,000 people.
“All of them were killed for no reason, why do they (Daesh) do that? They misinterpret the teachings of the Holy Quran. Killing innocent people is a crime against humanity. The Holy Quran does not permit such acts.
“We hope with this victory, Mosul will be back to how it was before.. we have a very rich history, it is time for the Iraqis to rise again,” he said.