Jamal al‑Alusi / Gamal al‑Alusi

From the news reports:

Gamal al-Alusi was born to Iraqi exiles in Germany and grew up in Hamburg. One of his longtime German friends described Gamal as an intelligent young man who liked to play basketball and take flying lessons. He was also social and humorous, and served as a peacemaker among his friends. ...

Nevertheless, Gamal apparently felt having a "normal" job in Germany would not give him the satisfaction of having done something meaningful with his life. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he left Germany and went to Iraq with his father, Mithal al-Alusi, an Iraqi native who had been a vocal critic of the Ba'ath regime. ...

Gamal assisted his father's subsequent endeavor to establish an Iraqi political party that advocates a liberal democracy, economic development through international investment and a strategic partnership with the United States and Israel. ...

Days before the election, when I asked Mithal al-Alusi about the dangers to his family, Gamal answered instead, "It is true that we are in danger, but if this is the price for democracy and peace, it is a very low price." ...

Gamal left the prosperous land of his birth and went to the ancestral land he had not known, because he wanted to help build something new. To say that he finally found meaning in his life is an understatement.

ST 9 Mar 2005