Mid-May 2003: Iraqi Engineers Ready to Repair Country’s Phone Network, but Can’t without Permission from Coalition Provisional Authority

Mohammed al-Ani, an Iraqi telecommunications engineer, complains to the London Telegraph that he cannot return to work to repair Iraq’s phone system until the US-led Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance decides what to do. “We could repair a lot of the phone network, but we are not allowed to do anything. The sanctions may be gone, but we are under occupation. It will be an American company which restores the phones.” [Daily Telegraph, 5/23/2003]