MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2005
Iraqi sniper becomes a legend
In the world of the Iraqi insurgent, Abu Othman – not his real name – is something of a celebrity. Known to all as The Sniper, he is acclaimed for the consistency with which he dispatches victims from ranges of 1,000 metres or more.
The tale of how a humble calligrapher became a renowned marksman by teaching himself from websites, honing his skills with computer games and studying Hollywood films such as The Deer Hunter is the stuff of legend in the Sunni triangle of militant towns to the north and west of Baghdad.
Othman relates a recent killing with obvious pride, punctuating his tale with thanks to Allah.
With elbows bandaged and knees padded for comfort, The Sniper lay face down on a Ramadi rooftop and cradled his Russian made sniper rifle as he waited for the tall American soldier to appear.
The soldier's habit of urinating into the street from the top of his Bradley armoured vehicle had angered Sunni Muslim inhabitants of the tree-lined suburb he patrolled.
It was not the urinating as such that offended them; it was the way he exposed himself regardless of whether any women were around to see him.
In the end an old man came forward to demand his death. He complained to insurgents that the soldier had strafed his street, destroying several cars and a trailer at a cost of thousands of dollars. The insurgents responded by firing a rocket-propelled grenade at the Bradley. It missed. A few days later they tried to blow up the vehicle with a Russian C5K missile. The missile missed, too.
That was when they sent for Abu Othman.
It was a long, hot wait that summer's day on the rooftop. Othman was glad of his headphones. He played his favourite verses from the Koran and their soothing flow cleared his mind, infusing him with a determination to see through the assignment, come what may.
He prayed for God to deliver his target.
"The moment finally arrived. The Bradley stopped and the soldier stood on it ready to relieve himself. He put his hand on his trousers. I took aim and fired one shot and saw him drop dead," said Othman.
The most striking thing about The Sniper is his unadulterated pride in killing. He claims to have sniped 29 men in all – 20 Americans and nine Iraqis.
"I want to cry when I speak about my work," he said at one point during this interview.
"I am so afraid that God will deprive me of this talent that he bestowed upon me."
(The Sunday Times)
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