Shot for Wearing Shorts

Chronicles of Atlantis joins the contributing blogs club by adding this little tidbit to the List.

The coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.

Coach Hussein Ahmed Rashid and players Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda were killed in the al-Saidiya district of the capital.

Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.

Other Iraqi athletes have been targeted in recent incidents.

In this case, according to accounts, the men dropped off laundry and were then stopped in their vehicle by gunmen.

Leaflets

Two of the athletes stepped out of the car and were shot in the head, said one witness. The third was shot dead in the vehicle.

"The gunman took the body out of the car and threw it on top of the other two bodies before stealing the car," said the witness, who requested anonymity.

He said leaflets had been recently distributed in the area warning residents not to wear shorts.

Last week, 15 members of Iraq's taekwondo team were kidnapped between Falluja and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, said a member of the Iraqi Olympic Committee. The kidnappers have demanded $100,000 for their release.

Can you imagine playing tennis in longs pants at the Olympic level? Not to mention Iraq has a history of mistreating it's Olympians.

ISSAM THAMER
AL-DIWAN

Issam Thamer Al-Diwan, a former Iraqi national team volleyball player, witnessed abuses of athletes at Olympic facilities and was imprisoned twice. He says the torture he endured as a prisoner left lasting physical and mental scars.

 

SHARAR HAYDAR

Sharar Haydar played for Iraqi junior and senior national teams for 12 years. When he tried to retire from international competition, he was imprisoned and beaten. Haydar says he is one of the lucky ones -- he was punished only four times.

 

RAED AHMED

Raed Ahmed was a 12-time Iraqi national weightlifting champion. For participating in the Atlanta Olympics, each Iraqi athlete was supposed to be rewarded with $8,000. Instead, Ahmed says it went into the pocket of the Iraq National Olympic Committee president.