FACES: AMAR AL HAMEEDAWI

Photo Credit: CBC

At the beginning of the 1990s, Amar Al Hameedawi is a teenager. He lives in Baghdad with his parents. Amar witnesses Saddam Hussein's army's invasion of Kuwait and quickly realizes that his country, Iraq, cannot win. He and his family oppose the dictator's policies, but cannot say it publicly for fear of reprisals.

After the first gulf war, an embargo is imposed on Iraq and the cost of basic goods explodes. To sway public opinion, Saddam Hussein declares that the merchants are responsible for the price hikes. On his orders, some merchants are executed in front of their stores. Amar is traumatized by the bloodstains in the market.

Then come the September, 2001 attacks. Some student groups at the university, members of the Ba'ath party, rejoice. Amar is there, but does not dare declare his dissidence: one must not oppose the party in power and its supporters.

Then, when Saddam invites foreign journalists to show them the conditions under which they live because of the embargo, he asks that the best language students serve as interpreters. Amar is one of them. By becoming an interpreter, he now has access to sources of information not available to most Iraqis. From then on, he sees both sides of Saddam Hussein's regime's propaganda.

Today, Amar is a journalist in Paris with the French television network, France 24.