Former Seattle man, forced to flee Iraq, returns a hero

QAL'AT SUKKAR, Iraq — Blaring warnings from Humvee-mounted loudspeakers, the U.S. Marines sent residents of this rural town scurrying yesterday when the troops arrived to demolish symbols of President Saddam Hussein's regime.

But any potential tension melted quickly into jubilation when the people of Qal'at Sukkar learned that one of their own had come home.

Khuder Al-Emeri, 43, a former restaurateur, left Seattle three months ago to join the Free Iraqi Forces, a group of exiles trained by the U.S. military to serve as interpreters and guides in Iraq.

Wearing desert camouflage and assisting the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, his return to the Shiite village where he once led an uprising against Saddam's regime was a whirlwind of tears and hugs — seeing relatives he didn't even recognize after 12 years away.

"I came to help my people," Al-Emeri said.

Qal'at Sukkar, which means "Fort of Sugar" and is located 60 miles north of Nasiriyah, was essentially bypassed by larger Marine units that passed near here on their way to Baghdad. The only obvious sign of fighting in the town is a bullet-riddled bus alongside a main road.

When news got out that Al-Emeri was back, crowds of men flooded into the streets and pressed around him, cheering and clapping and pushing up against Marines in defensive positions. "We have had enough!" the crowd chanted, and several young men also shouted, "George Bush, yes!"

At one point, Al-Emeri used the loudspeaker to urge the crowd to move back for their own safety as Marines wired for destruction a large Saddam mural in front of the former secret-police headquarters.

A leader of a Shiite uprising during the first Gulf War, Al-Emeri fled the country in April 1991 with his two brothers: Ali Al-Emeri of Las Vegas, who also joined the Free Iraqi Forces, and Hassan Al-Emeri, who runs a market in Everett.

"They wanted to help the Iraqi people get rid of Saddam and make it easier for the U.S. military," said Hassan Al-Emeri of his brothers' decision to return to Iraq with the U.S. military.

Khuder Al-Emeri opened his Rosemary Mediterranean Restaurant on Aurora Avenue North in 1999, according to his brother. He sold the restaurant shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when business declined and the restaurant was the target of vandals.

Khuder Al-Emeri said the Iraqi regime placed a price on his head after he left. His only way to communicate with his family — which was regularly questioned about his whereabouts — was by relaying messages through acquaintances in Baghdad.

The restaurant he ran in Iraq, named "Peace" in Arabic, was seized by the government along with his other businesses.

Members of his family were among those who rushed out to greet him — including his 15-year-old son, Ali, whom he hadn't seen since he left Iraq. They embraced tightly and wept.

Ali Al-Emeri said he was afraid to ever let his father go away again, but Al-Emeri assured him: "Stay home. You are safe. I am here, the U.S. forces are here."

Residents insisted that local Baath party members had simply vanished. "I don't know where they're hiding — maybe they're in the city, maybe they're out of the city," Al-Emeri told the Marine unit's civil-affairs officer.

Despite the warm greeting, residents of the town of 45,000 complained that they had no electricity or food, and said the local hospital had no medicine. "No water, no hospital, no food, no anything," resident Walid Qasm said in English. "Help, help, please help."

Humanitarian groups haven't made it to the area and Marines here are doing assessments for possible future aid, but they hesitate to say how long it could take to arrive.

The Free Iraqi Fighters are made up of Iraqis between 18 and 55 years old who had been living in exile in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. They trained with the U.S. Army in Hungary this winter, learning basic self-defense skills, such as how to use a 9-mm pistol and wear protective gear in case of chemical or biological attacks. The Pentagon has said they would be paid a small stipend, less than a U.S. private would earn.

Their open involvement in the war coincides with the return or anticipated return of prominent Iraqi exile leaders, notably Ahmed Chalabi, who has been leading the London-based Iraqi National Congress and aspires to lead post-Saddam Iraq, and Iran-based Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, whose Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq is the largest Iraqi opposition group.

Al-Emeri said he planned to come back to his hometown to stay. Despite the rapturous reception yesterday, he declined to speculate on a future leadership role for himself.

"It's up to the people; it's democratic," he said. "The problem was with Saddam Hussein, not with the Iraqi people. ... We want real democracy."

Seattle Times staff reporter Florangela Davila contributed to this report.