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02. 09. 10. - 15:00

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02. 09. 10. - 15:00

Iraq veteran faces new life to save brother in Traiskirchen

A Moroccan-born man who fought in the American army during the US invasion of Iraq is now fighting another battle to save the life of his brother.

Omar Ezzaidi, 36, moved to America in the 90’s and five years later became an American citizen and enlisted in the US Air Force.

He said: "I have built a home in America, but I have never forgotten my family, and I regularly sent money back to them in Casablanca."

And that was where the trouble started. When it became known that he was in the US military, his brothers Jalal, 33, and Rachid, 31, who were running a small water-pipe café, were targeted increasingly by Moroccan police who demanded protection money.

He said: "At first, they demanded free drinks and then money increasingly frequently - every time they faced resistance from my brothers, they would denigrate my service in the US Air Force and chastise my family for my tours of duty in Iraq - accusing me of making money by killing Iraqi Muslims."

Omar and all of his family are Muslim, and he said the claims were clearly ridiculous.

He added: "On 30 December 2008, one day after I arrived in Morocco to visit my sick mother, policemen in Casablanca raided the café at closing time and arrested my brother, the waiters, and seven patrons.

"They were verbally and physically abusive; they forced the detained to sign statements admitting violations they had never been guilty of.

"My brother Jalal was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to six months in jail, which was reduced to three months by an appeals court.  He was forced to sell the business at half price to avoid constant police harassment, and I was extorted to the bone by the Moroccan judiciary system."

His youngest brother Rachid managed to get a visa for Italy, where he received death threats from other Moroccans there and so made his way to Austria - and has applied for permission to stay long enough for a powerful list of backers Omar has arranged for him in the US can help him.

The row comes at a sensitive time for American and Moroccan relations after Representative Frank Wolf ,who chaired the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on Human Rights and Religious Freedom, slammed the country for victimizing US citizens.

He said: "Over the course of the last three months, approximately 49 American citizens and scores of other foreign nationals have been deported and denied re-entry into the Kingdom of Morocco for alleged proselytizing. While that is against the law in Morocco, authorities have refused to turn over any evidence or to offer any explanation of the charges.  Among the individuals who were deported or denied reentry were businessmen, educators and humanitarian and social workers, many of whom had resided in Morocco for over a decade in full compliance with the law."

And he called for an end to US assistance to Morocco as long as basic human and religious rights for US and other foreign citizens were not respected, saying: "At a time when the U.S. debt is over $13 trillion, it is inappropriate for American taxpayer money to go to a nation that disregards the rights of American citizens . . . . without due process of law."

Congressman Wolf has invited Omar to meet with him in September in Washington to discuss what can be done, but that may be too late. And the office of Omar's Florida Senator George LeMieux has written to the US embassy in Vienna asking for an update on the case and for them to monitor what Austria is doing - and Amnesty International has also stepped in.

Rachid is currently in the Traiskirchen refugee camp south of Vienna, and Omar, who is coordinating help for his brother from a US military base in Iraq, said: "I am desperately worried about him - I have to keep him out of Morocco long enough to make permanent arrangements. I'm hoping that Austrian officials will agree."

Omar's commander in Iraq has already written to officials at Traiskirchen asking that any decision on deportation be delayed. Although the Dublin Treaty states that asylum requests be dealt with in the land of arrival, there is a clause that could mean Austrian authorities might grant him asylum if there is a threat to his life. He received many such threats in Italy, some of which have been documented in a police report.

His commander in Iraq has also written to officials in Traiskirchen, saying: "I sincerely hope that Rachid will be granted asylum in Austria as he is fearful of repercussions should he be returned to Italy or to Morocco."

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