Town has a key role in building a new Iraq

SOUTHEND is playing a key part in helping to rebuild Iraq following the withdrawal of British troops.

Iraqi students are set to flood UK universities and colleges in a bid to lay the foundations for the reconstruction of the country which has suffered years of dictatorship and war.

Southend Adult Community College is one of eight UK colleges and organisations involved in the Rawabit partnership project. Groups of principals, followed by deputies, heads of department and lecturers, have spent weeks learning about the colleges.

Those taking part in the project aim to take something back to Iraq by supporting their counterparts with new courses set up in the country. Ali Hadawi, principal of the adult college in Ambleside Drive, said: “The thinking behind it is to build on the capabilities of the Iraqi vocational and training sectors to respond to the needs of the country and to be a force for positive change in building the new Iraq.

“We have been working on this for the past five years with our Iraqi counterparts to build leadership and management and to show how we interact with local employers.”

Iraqi-born Mr Hadawi said the project targeted unemployed people and those who had little chance to succeed under the old Iraq, particularly women who have had no education.

On his recent visits to colleges in Iraq, Mr Hadawi says he has noticed real changes.

He added: “The vocational education and training sectors are very well placed to do this work. Colleges in Iraq have acknowledged the UK has been the most successful in this because we have never approached it with the attitude that they need to be doing this or that.

“We work with them in terms of what they require, then show them what we do in the UK, and leave it up to them to work out what’s best for them.”

The scheme has focused on employment initiatives such as enlisting businesses, such as the Rafidane Bank, to provide work experience, so newly-qualified students have some idea about the work they might eventually do.

This year, 500 Iraqi students will be coming to Britain under a new scholarship scheme, and thousands more will follow.

The scholarship scheme aims to send 10,000 Iraqis a year to universities and colleges in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

1PWRR returning home after Iraq tour of duty

THEY’RE coming home.

Hampshire soldiers have made their last journey out of Iraq and are today on their way back to family and friends.

It’s an historic moment for troops from the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, and comes slightly earlier than expected, following the end of the British combat mission and the handover of control to the Americans two weeks ago.

The news has been greeted with delight by hundreds of troops from A and C company, who have been in Iraq since December last year.

Lt Col Charlie Sykes, commanding officer of the battalion, said: “I am hugely proud of what the Armoured Tigers have achieved over this demanding operational period. We have a record of achievement second to none, reflected in awards to members of the battalion, but championed by all of us who wear the distinctive blue-yellow- blue flash and Indian tiger motif.”

Since 2003, when the mission was launched to topple Saddam Hussein, the troops – nicknamed The Tigers – have endured three tours of duty on the Iraq frontline.

The first, and possibly their toughest, was in 2004 when the battalion became the most highly decorated serving regiment in the British Army.

A total of 37 medals and awards were handed to The Tigers, including the most prestigious, the Victoria Cross, awarded to Private Johnson Beharry for twice risking his own life while rescuing his men during an intense firefight in Al Amarah.

In 2006 more than 600 Tigers deployed for Op Telic 8 were based in the desert south of Basra. In one of their biggest operations, when they were tasked with carrying out search and arrests in the capital, they came under heavy fire from suspected terrorists for more than four hours. Miraculously all escaped uninjured.

In August that year, the Daily Echo joined them for eight days to see the daily troubles faced by soldiers.

We reported how more than 600 soldiers were coming under fire daily in stifling temperatures of up to 50 degrees. Also that year, Hampshire troops shot dead one of Osama bin Laden’s right hand men during a major operation.

More than 220 soldiers from the battalion stormed a house in Basra and killed the leading al-Qaida terrorist Omar al-Farouq.

Their final stint in Iraq has been far quieter, with more than 350 soldiers deploying from their base in Paderborn, Germany, to assist with the training and development of the Iraqi army.

Lt Col Sykes added: “Not a bullet was fired in contact, in stark contrast to our previous two highly intensive tours.

“Walking around the bazaars and chatting to the locals in Basra, they were sorry to see us leave and were grateful to ourselves and to the Iraqi forces for the huge improvement in security they have seen over the last year.”