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Milenko Kindl

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Asian Cup soccer champs returned Friday to be feted
in their homeland, but many Baghdad residents complained that they
would miss out on the celebrations because of tight security in the
heart of the capital. ADVERTISEMENT



The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of four more
American soldiers.

The national team, which hasn't played a home game in 17 years, landed
at Baghdad's international airport Friday evening and traveled by bus
in a convoy to the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.
Iraqi officials, led by Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, met the
team upon its arrival, according to government representative Bassam
al-Husseini.

But at least three of the team's stars - including captain Younis
Mahmoud, Nashat Akram and Hawar Mulla Mohammed - were not believed to
be with them. Mahmoud, a Sunni Arab who scored the winning goal in
Iraq's 1-0 Asian Cup final win over Saudi Arabia, has said he feared
for his life if he returned to Iraq to celebrate the stunning victory.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki planned a welcoming celebration in the
Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government
headquarters, al-Husseini said.

"I wish the celebration would take place in al-Shaab stadium, but that
is impossible for security reasons," said Mohammed Kadhom, 35, who
works at the country's oil ministry. Al-Shaab is a huge, Saddam
Hussein-era facility on the capital's east side.

"It is sad that we can't receive our national team in a public
celebration as others do, I myself fear for their safety," Kadhom
said.

Vehicles were banned from Baghdad's streets for four hours coinciding
with prayer services on Friday, a regular weekly curfew on the Muslim
holy day. Several rings of security around the Green Zone would
prevent ordinary Iraqis from welcoming the team, which has already had
celebrations in Dubai and Amman en route back from Indonesia, where
the winning match was played.

"It is an incomplete joy, because all other people welcome their
winning teams in the streets of their capitals and we in Iraq had to
be the last ones to receive them, after the (United Arab) Emirates and
Jordan," said Baghdad resident Naeem Abdullah, 40.