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The show's host, Abdul-Karim Hammad, said he proposed the show to Allawi, who agreed. It may be a campaign ploy as Allawi tries to burnish his image ahead of Jan. 30 elections, but from the nature of the questions, it appears the calls aren't screened.
...
In last week's segment of "The Iraqi Podium," Nawal Ibrahim called from Baghdad to say her three sons have been held in detention for more than a year." Allawi asked her to give a reason why they were detained, then sought her phone number so that someone from his office can call her.
"We, God willing, will release them if they are innocent but we will call you to get more details," Allawi said.
Hussein Salem, a Kurdish civil engineer from the northern city of Zakho called to complain that he wasn't admitted to a master's degree program at Baghdad University because his college average was only 62 -- lower than the required 65.
"You should have worked harder for an average of 70," Allawi chided him with a laugh. "I will speak with the minister of higher education and try find what is going on."
...
Then there was the time when a man called and said simply, "Zarqawi is better than Allawi." Al-Zarqawi is the Jordanian terrorist mastermind whose group, al-Qaida in Iraq, is believed responsible for kidnapping dozens of people and beheading some of them.
The call came during the U.S.-led invasion of Fallujah, the insurgent hotbed where al-Zarqawi was believed to be hiding. All Allawi could do was smile; he said nothing.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-calling-allawi,0,3976346.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
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