Fallujans put faith in former tormentor

In his insurgent days, Abdullah Messir would hear Fallujah's clerics decry the former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi as an infidel and a traitor. But in last month's parliamentary elections, Messir and thousands of people from his city hailed Allawi as their leader, contributing to the electoral success of a politician who presided over a ferocious assault on Falluja, a former stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency. Residents of the city interviewed by IWPR said they voted for Allawi because they feared the hegemony of Shia Arab parties backed by Iran and were frustrated with the pace of reconstruction. The man blamed for destroying Fallujah six years ago was, they said, the best candidate for rebuilding it today. "Our biggest problems are unemployment and still pending payouts for property that was destroyed in the fighting in 2004," said Messir, who took up work as a blacksmith after giving up the gun. "People want a powerful prime minister who can squeeze compensation out of the central budget," he said, adding that Allawi could deliver on this score.