Chapter 8 5.In Baghdad, for a photo

I came, I saw, I won! --Caesar On the night of January 12, I suddenly received a long-distance call from Beijing. At that time, I had lost contact with the photography department of Xinhua News Agency, which directed me, for more than a week.Lin Chuan, deputy director of the photography department, severely accused me of not taking photos of the UN Secretary-General in Baghdad.In fact, anyone who has been to Baghdad knows that I have tried my best in this Arabian Nights country. In the eyes of scholars, Iraq is regarded as "the cradle of human civilization" and "the birthplace of ancient Babylonian culture".Humans built cities, invented the wheel, created irrigation systems, created cuneiform writing on clay tablets, and codified laws as early as 6,000 years ago in the fertile crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. into a book.Evidence is said to show that complex social structures arose in Mesopotamia 1,000 years earlier than ancient Egypt, and more than 1,000 years earlier than China's Xia Dynasty.Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, is one of the oldest cities in the Arab world.It is located in central Iraq, straddling the banks of the Tigris River and only 30 kilometers away from the Euphrates River. It was an important town more than 4,000 years ago and became the capital of the Arab Empire in 762 AD. King Mansur of the Hashemite family built the capital "Baghdad" on the west bank of the Tigris River.The word is derived from Persian, "Baq" means garden, and "Dad" means Allah, that is, the garden of Allah.The name of Baghdad is still in use today. It is the first circular city in Arab history. From the central Mulanba Square in the center of the city, there are Khorasan Gate in the northeast, Syria Gate in the northwest, Kufa Gate in the southwest and Basra Gate in the southeast.Later, the Rusafah Acropolis was built on the east bank of the Tigris River, forming today's Great Baghdad. From 786 to 833, it became the most important cultural and trade center in the Middle East.Nationalities of different skin colors—Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Turks, Armenians, different religions—Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and different lifestyles are everywhere, and all kinds of clothes are strange. Baghdad is full of strange charm.Baghdad is the background of many moving stories in the world's classic literary masterpieces (namely "Arabian Nights"), so people call Baghdad the hometown of China.

But today, this treasure house of world cultural heritage has become a powder keg that is about to explode. In Baghdad, taking pictures is as difficult as going to the blue sky.The Iraqis, who have just emerged from the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and are facing bombing by multinational forces, are in dire straits.English is not popular here, and taxi drivers, civilians, soldiers and even long-distance telephone stations all speak Arabic.Not only is it difficult to obtain information and transportation, if you are not accompanied by Iraqi information officials, you will never even think about carrying a camera on the street.Not to mention the military police and plainclothes, you can't deal with ordinary people with high revolutionary consciousness.Fortunately, I was born with an Asian face, and the five-star red flag on my photography vest and the words "People's China Xinhua News Agency" in Chinese, English, and Arabic distinguish me from the Japanese.With a smile on my face, I kept shouting to the surroundings: "I am a brother of the Iraqi people, and Allah is the greatest!"

Countless government ministries, state agencies, shops, hospitals, banks, gas stations, gas stations, supermarkets, important intersections, overpasses, bazaars, squares, stations, and airports in Baghdad are not allowed to take pictures, for fear that reporters will take pictures of the buildings on the roof. The anti-aircraft guns shot away.Soldiers armed with live ammunition and armed with AK-47 rifles are all over the ground, with countless eyes staring at you, and there are gunshots piercing the sky from time to time.I became a rabbit with erect ears and jumping around. All the foreign journalists who came to Baghdad were treated as "guests" and stayed in the Rashid Hotel, which is far away from the Mansour Hotel which is famous for its hostages.The Japanese journalists complained that the food and lodging cost more than 200 US dollars a day, and they were only allowed to stay here for 10 days. The Iraqi Ministry of Information was responsible for all transportation.

Iraq does not allow foreign journalists to bring fax machines into the country, so I had to leave my precious fax machine in Amman.However, it is said that there are also supernatural powers. Dominique from the Associated Press has a machine in the US embassy that can send photos by satellite, which made me distracted. Bruno of Paris Match smirked and said he didn't use a fax machine at all.Toshio Okawamoto of Kyodo News who followed the Japanese Socialist Party delegation did bring in a film fax machine.I'm probably the only one who is miserable. I have to rely on the Iraqi News Agency to send faxes and photos, not to mention spending US dollars. The worst thing is that the line is not guaranteed at all. On January 9th, the International Muslim Convention opened in Baghdad. I hired a taxi and ran around for a long time. I held a 10-inch fax photo in my hand and sent it for 3 hours, but I couldn’t send it. I paid 60 dollars in vain.But complaints are complaints, and we can't really let the United League put us down.

At dawn on the 13th, Lao Zhu helped me inquire about the whereabouts of the visiting UN Secretary-General Pérez de Cuellar, but to no avail.After passing the two photos on Yitong News Agency, I found Kono, who lives on the 14th floor of the Rashid Hotel.There is a kind of intimacy when people of yellow race meet here, not to mention that we are still alumni of Peking University, and we have run news together in Beijing. This guy is also anxious about the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.The two of us agreed: to exchange information and share weal and woe. After sitting in Rashid and waiting for a day without getting any clues, I dragged my tired legs back to the branch office.The chief, Lao Zhu, was washing vegetables and cooking, and while I was helping, I called Kono, but the line was always busy.At a quarter to 8 o'clock, Lao Zhu said to ask your senior brother from Beijing again, I decided to try again for the last time, and it worked.Kono opened his mouth and asked me what happened at the airport? "What airport?" I was puzzled. "Oh, why are you still at home? De Cuellar arrives at the airport at 8 o'clock!" I threw down the phone and rushed into the kitchen and shouted, "Old Zhu, drive to the airport!"

The branch’s Mercedes-Benz-230 was only found a few days ago.The car thief was killed.The shatterable door glass is not worthy of Baghdad because of the embargo.It is said that this 1990 Mercedes-Benz-230E glass is only available in Europe.We had to drive a Toyota Corona, but the wretched car shuddered after 80 kilometers an hour on the highway.Headlights split the rain and fog, and steam rose from the hood.Lao Zhu stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, the wheels were spinning in the rain, water splashed everywhere, and the military police standing with guns in the rainy night flashed by.Lao Zhu hadn't slept for three days in a row, and at this moment he seemed to be half asleep and asked me, "Did we turn off the gas just now?" As he asked, he smoked heavily to refresh himself.I moved to the right side of the car seat and tightened my seat belt, for fear that the car would make a sharp turn and slip out of the water-logged roadbed.

At 8:12, we drove into the VIP building of Saddam International Airport. Lao Zhu asked me to occupy a seat first, and he went to find a place to park.More than 200 reporters crowded here. On the sofa under the statue of Saddam Hussein at the entrance of the VIP building, more than a dozen photojournalists lay in disorder.On the carpet against the wall, or lying or sitting on the ground, there was a large area covered in darkness, and there were also reporters. The huge hall was foggy with cigarette smoke.Lao Zhu asked the Iraqis in Arabic and found out that de Cuéllar had not arrived yet.The two of us took the opportunity to sit close together in the corner of the wall and fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, I was suddenly awakened by someone stepping on me, and a big man was stepping over me. My head was dizzy and heavy, and I grabbed a chair with all my strength to stand up.The crowd was rushing towards the door, so I grabbed the chair that helped me stand up and rushed to the door.Dozens of people huddled together in the foyer, cameras, tripods, aluminum ladders criss-crossed, cursing.I pressed the chair hard to the ground, stepped up, and Kyodo Kondo, who was standing below me, gave me a thumbs up.The military and police have sealed off the exit and ordered the reporters to line up to enter another small meeting place that was temporarily prepared, where they can meet the Secretary-General of the United Nations.I threw down my chair and moved towards the wall, clinging to the wall like a gecko, until I touched the iron railing at the door before standing still, like those timid white reporters, bowing my head and obeying the ear, expressing my obedience Order.Just when the military and police were concentrating on pushing and rubbing a Western TV reporter, I stepped over the railing with my left leg unexpectedly, and trotted a few steps to catch up with Perez de Cuellar and his party.Even though I heard the scolding of the soldiers behind me and the sound of leather shoes chasing me, I pretended not to know and walked in close to the group of VIPs.I know that no one dares to shoot at this time, even if he is a sharpshooter, he will not come to arrest me. "People's China Xinhua News Agency" is written on my back in Chinese, English, and Arabic, not to mention that there are hundreds of reporters behind me. Waiting for the news to come out, it is time to show your face to China.Needless to say, I grabbed the best spot.Associated Press Dominique was several rows behind me, he was only 1.70 meters tall, and I was 1.83 meters.It's a pity that my Sempak flash is always unable to charge, and I shot the head again after flicking the film a few times. I bit the finished film with my teeth, used my right arm to release the pressure around me, and then used my index and middle fingers to dig out the back of the camera. The new film in my heart just arrived in front of me, but it was flushed from behind, and I saw the film in my hand slide down the snow-white back of a blonde girl in front of me.I gritted my teeth and said I'm sorry, and put on a new roll with difficulty.When we were done, Dominic asked me how I was doing, and I said "absolutely".

At 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, the sleepy old Zhu helped me find Yitong News Agency and asked to send this photo to Beijing, but they said that they had stopped working at this time, and I was so anxious that I screamed.After being reminded by Lao Zhu, I suddenly thought of my Peking University alumnus, Kono from Kyodo News, and his photographer Toshio Okawamoto.At 1 o'clock in the middle of the night, we drove to the Rashid Hotel. Lao Zhu dozed off and drove the car onto the sidewalk. Kyodo News was very helpful. Da Heyuan immediately loaded my negatives on the Midland photo fax machine. Kono called Beijing for me, but I waited for more than an hour, but there was no line.The comprehensive sanctions imposed by the United Nations made Bagh an isolated island. In the past, my contact with the outside world was all based on a group of "girlfriends" that my disciple Yuan Man, who was a fax operator, "talked about" on international long distances to report on the war.Yuan Man was the only person who was able to travel from Beijing to Hong Kong and New York to enter Baghdad on the eve of the war. Lin Chuan, deputy director of the photography department, proudly called it a secret weapon at the meeting of the editor's office.But at this moment, I began to wonder whether Yuan Man and his International Detachment of Women had also joined the ranks of sanctions imposed by the United Nations.Lao Zhu was so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open, and he was sitting by the side smoking non-stop.In desperation, he had no choice but to go back home.

The next day, I entrusted the retreating compatriots to airlift this faxed photo to Amman, Jordan. With the assistance of the Amman branch of Xinhua News Agency, it finally reached Beijing. Half a year later, I reunited with Kono from Kyodo News in Beijing.Kono said that the photo of me de Cuellar was "folded" by the photographer of Kyodo News, and all the Japanese newspapers used "Xinhua".Once again my photo spread from the "Eye of the Storm" Baghdad to the world, occupying foreign newspapers.Hong Kong's "Ming Pao" has called me "the master of photography of Xinhua News Agency", and "Business Daily" has called me "the biggest discovery of the photography department of Xinhua News Agency in the past 20 years".And that's not counting the German and American newspapers.To this day, I still insist that the only criterion for measuring the value of a reporter is to see how many media outlets around the world use his news, not others.