We continue our series on athletes who took advantage of the Olympics to ditch their home countries with Raed Ahmed. This Iraqi was the flag bearer for his delegation at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. His desertion is worthy of a spy novel and tells the story of the influence of Iraqi dissident groups in exile between the two Gulf Wars.
All it took was one phone call to change his life forever. After that, there was no turning back. Iraqi leaders warned him and other Olympic athletes: Don’t do anything stupid, or you’ll pay for it when we get back. “.
Raed Ahmed was 29 years old at the time. This Iraqi weightlifter had just finished 23rd in the heavyweight category at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Before dialing the number he had carefully kept since his arrival in Atlanta, Raed Ahmed wanted to be sure that his wife, who had remained in Iraq, was safe in the Kurdish zone in the north of the country.
” You can call at any time, day or night, whenever you are ready. “, Omar Muhammed, a student at Georgia Tech University, had told him. Raed Ahmed had made his arrangements well before the Olympics.
Before flying to Atlanta, he had called old friends from Basra, his hometown in Iraq, who had been living in the United States for years. They were the ones who acted as intermediaries with Omar Muhammed. Less than two weeks after the opening ceremony, the leaders of the tiny Iraqi delegation — three athletes — were planning a trip to the zoo.
It’s barely noon. Raed Ahmed takes advantage of this moment of distraction, rushes to his hotel room, stuffs a bag of clothes and calls immediately. A car is waiting for him at the gas station at the intersection of Spring Street and North Avenue, right next to the Olympic Village. Raed Ahmed is sweating when he finally finds it.
The car speeds toward Decatur, a little less than six miles east of Atlanta. Raed Ahmed hides there while he seeks asylum. He is immediately sought by Iraqi officials.
A press conference was held at Emory University in Atlanta on August 1, 1996.
Raed Ahmed appears, dressed all in black, with a moustache and a fanny pack around his waist. About ten microphones have been installed on the table at which he is sitting. It is a political statement, it is against the oppression that the people of Iraq are experiencing, especially from Saddam Hussein, his brothers, his family and his gangs. “, Raed Ahmed courageously asserts, arms crossed.
At that precise moment, he is afraid for himself, for his brothers too, of whom he is ” without news “His wife, however, is safe in Iraqi Kurdistan. His desertion and the exfiltration of his wife were greatly facilitated by the INC. Literally, the Iraqi National Congress, a global network of opposition groups to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Raed Ahmed now lives in Michigan, where he participates in a local soccer club and has his own garage. His wife joined him shortly after his defection.
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