In August, the Shia militia Kataeb Hezbollah fired rockets into Kuwait, and it warned further attacks would follow if work on the port continued.
Tribal leaders in the area say that unless the Iraqi government takes action to prevent an economic downturn in Basra, armed militias will seize the chance to return to the city. The city was controlled by armed groups until 2008, when a government offensive drove them out and the economy began recovering.
Sheikh Inizan, the leader of the Ghatarna tribe, warned that if the Kuwaiti project went ahead, “the clans will take the law into their own hands”.
At the Umm Qasr port, workers fear for their futures.
“I never completed my education, so I can only work as a porter. I have a family of seven and I'm their only breadwinner,” said Uday Salim, who has spent the last ten years at the port, starting at the age of 15. “What I’m hearing about the construction of the Mubarak port and its impact on Iraq’s ports suggests that thousands of us will be put out of work, with very few other options.”
Ahmad Wahid is an IWPR-trained reporter in Iraq. Additional reporting by Hazim Al-Sharaa, IWPR local editor in Iraq.
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