Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Witness History: The Destruction Of Iraq's Marshlands

Documentaries

The Destruction of Iraq's Marshes

26/11/2018 GMT

The Destruction Of Iraq's Marshlands

BBC World Service - Witness History, The Destruction Of Iraq's Marshlands

When Iraq's marshes became a hiding place for rebels, Saddam Hussein destroyed them.

When marshes in southern Iraq became a hiding place for rebels, Saddam Hussein ordered their destruction in the early 1990s.

In the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein ordered the draining of southern Iraq's great marshes. It was one of the biggest environmental disasters of the twentieth century and an ancient way of life, dating back thousands of years, was almost wiped out. In 2014 Louise Hidalgo spoke to Iraqi environmentalist Azzam Alwash, and to journalist Shyam Bhatia, who knew the area well.  This programme is a rebroadcast.

Photograph: An Iraqi Marsh Arab looks out across a barren stretch of the marshes of southern Iraq. (Credit: Essam al-Sudani/AFP/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

The Destruction Of Iraq's Marshlands

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service