FEATURE-Iraqis dread new night callers, flee homes in droves

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC413372.htm

BAGHDAD, May 26 (Reuters) - Sometimes it's a word in the ear from a neighbour, maybe a threatening note left by the door, a sinister phone call or just a vague, creeping sense of dread.

Then again it can be gunmen taking over the street and slaughtering friends and family before your eyes -- whatever it is that persuades Iraqis to grab their children and flee their homes in the night, they are doing so in growing numbers.

In listing "stopping deportations" among priorities for his new national unity government, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has acknowledged a nascent problem likened to the "ethnic cleansing" of the Balkans in the 1990s. But few expect a quick solution.

"I came out of the house and found there was a piece of paper on my windshield," said Abbas Mohammed, a 28-year-old minibus driver, recalling the moment he knew that as a Shi'ite he was no longer safe in Baghdad's Sunni rebel stronghold of Amriya.

"It said: 'Leave within 72 hours or you will taste our vengeance'. We left the next day and now live with my aunt."

[Oversea Visitor]

1. WAR on TERROR

poor Iraqies all terrorised.
They turn all cuckoo.
And you knwo what cuckoo people do.