I like to keep up with the news in the Arabian Gulf, and read the Gulf Daily News online most days. My Mother lived in Bahrain for ten years, and found it a most warm and hospitable place. The Bahrainis are welcoming, kind, and have a great sense of humour. They also have a great sense of charity: the Rotary Club of Salmaniya on the island is raising funds to bring international surgeons to Bahrain, where many of the victims of Saddam Hussein's torturers live in exile.
The most common forms of retribution against those who defied him (apart from execution) was cutting off ears, to identify the person as a 'traitor', and sometimes cutting off the lips.
There are some 1,600 Iraqis suffering from these mutilations, and the Bahrainis are hoping to effect much repair work, thanks to their leading plastic surgeon, an Iraqi who now has Bahraini nationality, and to bring both Iraq-based victims, and surgeons, over to Bahrain, to save on the cost of sending the victims further overseas.
Among all of the continuing hostilities in Iraq, some small rehabilitation work like this, which will make a huge difference to the lives of the mutilated victims, is heartening to note.
The most common forms of retribution against those who defied him (apart from execution) was cutting off ears, to identify the person as a 'traitor', and sometimes cutting off the lips.
There are some 1,600 Iraqis suffering from these mutilations, and the Bahrainis are hoping to effect much repair work, thanks to their leading plastic surgeon, an Iraqi who now has Bahraini nationality, and to bring both Iraq-based victims, and surgeons, over to Bahrain, to save on the cost of sending the victims further overseas.
Among all of the continuing hostilities in Iraq, some small rehabilitation work like this, which will make a huge difference to the lives of the mutilated victims, is heartening to note.