محمد غازي الكعبي

From the news reports:

Mohannad al-Kaabi was risking his life to build the kind of Iraqi democracy that President Bush has called for. ...

Kaabi was a handsome 28-year-old marine engineer who spoke excellent English. He headed the district council in Baghdad's huge Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City. His council was part of a U.S. democracy project to nurture local government. ...

Kaabi knew it was dangerous to work with the Americans, but he said it was in the interests of his own people. He said the militants only represented a fraction of Sadr City:

"Most of the people of Sadr City support this district council and think it comes to help them. Those who contact us can see certain changes because of what we do." ...

Iraqis, he said, needed time to grasp how a democratic system could be brought to them by U.S. troops. He would try to persuade his constituents it was worth waiting for representative government. He didn't falter, even after a deputy mayor of Baghdad was assassinated on Oct. 26.

PI 16 Nov 2003