Irishman wants to be voice for the Iraqis

AN Irishman staying in Baghdad to be the voice of ordinary Iraqis in the looming war, insisted yesterday he was no hero.

In what could be Michael Birmingham’s last telephone conservation with his family for weeks, he urged people to focus less on him and more on the reasons he was staying behind.

Despite the obvious dangers of

remaining in a city about to be bombed by the military might of the United States, Michael said his main worry was that people would miss the point of his mission.

“He’s not a human shield, he’s not in this for the adventure, and he doesn’t want to be seen as a hero,” said his older sister Deborah, who was lucky to get through to him on a phone call yesterday lunchtime.

“He was saying to me that he is more sure than ever of the need for

independent observers and witnesses now that he sees the UN personnel and other international agencies pulling out.

“The people are being left on their own and there would be no independent voice without the likes of him. That’s what his role is, and he is determined to see it through.”

Michael, aged 32, from Balbriggan, County Dublin, co-founded the

Campaign to End Sanctions Against Iraq four years ago, and took leave of absence from his job with the Abhaile organisation for the homeless in Tallaght, to travel to Iraq last October.

He is working there with the Chicago-based Voices of the Wilderness group, whose volunteers travel to war-torn countries to highlight the plight of the civilian populations.

Although he has vowed to live to tell the tale, Deborah, Michael’s older brother, Paul, and father John, can’t help but worry about him. “Sixteen million people depend on food aid and the humanitarian agencies have gone. It’s a human catastrophe. So while I am extremely worried about Michael, I completely see the value of what he is doing and I am very proud of him,” said Deborah.