i guess fear has no limit. since i'm claustropobic, i'm getting uncomfortable just thinking what this guy went through.
Jawad Amir is the Anne Frank of Iraq.
At age 28, he squeezed into a hiding place between the walls of his parents' home in the village of Jobah after Saddam Hussein ordered that he be executed.
Now, at age 49, Amir has emerged to a very different country - one where he finally feels safe to step into the sunshine.
"I feel as if I had just given birth to him again," Amir's elated mother, Ramsya Haddi, told BBC News.
For 21 years, Amir lived in fear of being snatched by the dictator's henchmen. Only a few relatives and his mother knew he was living in the narrow slot between the walls.
His life-or-death game of hide-and-seek began when he angered Saddam by supporting an outspoken Shiite cleric.
"When I felt the danger, I escaped to my parents' house. Then I prepared my hiding place to keep away from the people so no one could ever report me to the regime," Amir told the BBC.
In a space less than 2-1/2 feet wide, accessed by a tiny trapdoor, Amir passed the time reading the Koran with a flashlight, listening to a small radio through headphones and worrying he would be found. His only view of the outside world was through a tiny peephole.
The frail, pale and bearded Amir kept photos of himself as a young man and saved the teeth he lost over the years. His family sneaked him food and never uttered a word of his whereabouts. His neighbors thought he had vanished, like so many others who irked Saddam and his bloodthirsty sons.
Now the roles are reversed. Amir is free while Saddam and his sons - if they are alive - are hiding out to save their own hides.
Jawad Amir is the Anne Frank of Iraq.
At age 28, he squeezed into a hiding place between the walls of his parents' home in the village of Jobah after Saddam Hussein ordered that he be executed.
Now, at age 49, Amir has emerged to a very different country - one where he finally feels safe to step into the sunshine.
"I feel as if I had just given birth to him again," Amir's elated mother, Ramsya Haddi, told BBC News.
For 21 years, Amir lived in fear of being snatched by the dictator's henchmen. Only a few relatives and his mother knew he was living in the narrow slot between the walls.
His life-or-death game of hide-and-seek began when he angered Saddam by supporting an outspoken Shiite cleric.
"When I felt the danger, I escaped to my parents' house. Then I prepared my hiding place to keep away from the people so no one could ever report me to the regime," Amir told the BBC.
In a space less than 2-1/2 feet wide, accessed by a tiny trapdoor, Amir passed the time reading the Koran with a flashlight, listening to a small radio through headphones and worrying he would be found. His only view of the outside world was through a tiny peephole.
The frail, pale and bearded Amir kept photos of himself as a young man and saved the teeth he lost over the years. His family sneaked him food and never uttered a word of his whereabouts. His neighbors thought he had vanished, like so many others who irked Saddam and his bloodthirsty sons.
Now the roles are reversed. Amir is free while Saddam and his sons - if they are alive - are hiding out to save their own hides.
