Source:
McClatchy Iraqis risk jail time by carrying vital fake IDs
By Hussein Kadhim and Jenan Hussein | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — They lurk in the pocket or purse of virtually every Iraqi, laminated clues that could land the holders in jail or seal their deaths.
As 16-year-old Muhammad Ali Ibrihim makes his way to school, he carries two ID cards. One is real, and reveals through his tribal name that he's a Shiite Muslim. He shows that card when he's stopped at checkpoints set up by the Shiites of the Mahdi Army militia.
The other is bogus, a forgery that describes him as Umar Ahmed Muhammad, a moniker that labels him a Sunni Muslim. He flashes that card at checkpoints manned by outfits tied to al Qaida and others that are hostile to the Shiite-dominated government.
Without both, he couldn't navigate the obstacles between his home in Baghdad's Khadhimiya neighborhood and his school in the Mansour district of the Iraqi capital.
He risks a five-year prison sentence for carrying a fake ID, however. "But that is better than being killed just for being a Shiite," he said.
Read more:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/17161.html