Some good news out of Iraq...

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f1c47c8e444803013dc22b264abd6724.htm

IRAQ: Shi'ite and sunnis shelter each other

More BAGHDAD, 3 August (IRIN) - Hanan Muhammad is from a very conservative Sunni family, and she and her four children live in a predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Baghdad. But as sectarian violence rages across Iraq, Muhammad is sheltering her Shi'ite neighbours in her home.

"We have lived beside each other for years, and now because of this ridiculous sectarian violence, other people want them to leave our Sunni neighbourhood," Muhammad said. "But they do not have anywhere to go. So I'll help them, giving them my home, food and friendship as much as necessary."

Hundreds of Iraqis who oppose the ongoing sectarian violence have found ways to help each other, according to a spokesman for the Baghdad-based Iraq Aid Association (IAA).

"Some families shelter their neighbours, others give aid assistance like food supplies for those displaced, and even doctors offer their services for free as a way to help those innocent victims of the ongoing violence," said Fatah Ahmed, spokesman for IAA.

...

"When my husband died three years ago, these neighbours gave me complete support," Muhammad said. "I cannot leave them now in this very difficult time."