Iraqi exodus- In London, on a "long-term lease"

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) Iraqi author Haifa Zangana fled her country three decades ago after being tortured as a political prisoner during Saddam Hussein's rule.

She thought her exile then was temporary, but the violence stalking Baghdad's streets has chased away thoughts of return.

''I don't find any logic in going back to Iraq right now,'' she said in London, where she settled in 1976.

''I wouldn't be able to do anything except sit at home, and even in my home, I would be threatened and would be a burden on family and friends there,'' she said.

''The situation is very dangerous and any person who speaks out against occupation or tries to write about the militias and government corruption is liable to be assassinated.'' A pharmacy graduate from Baghdad University, Zangana was jailed for six months in Qasr al-Nihaya (Palace of the End) in 1972, when Saddam was Iraq's strongman but not yet president.

She describes all her life since her release as ''extra years''. Zangana first fled to Syria before moving to Britain and stayed away from Iraq until after Saddam's overthrow in 2003.

''I worked in a bakery for a few weeks but was fired as I didn't know the names of pies and pastries and was not able to understand some people's accents when asking for the pastries and bread,'' she said.

She later applied for a job as a cleaner at a swimming pool but was turned down as over-qualified. Before she turned to writing she worked as freelance translator and interpreter.

She returned to Baghdad for a month in 2004 and the city she found following the US-led invasion was ''heartbreaking''.

''It was no longer my city but seemingly the property of the occupation forces. It was a shock to see her in ruins.'' FROM SOLDIER TO WAITER Up to 2 million Iraqis have fled abroad, most to Syria and Jordan, and 1.7 million have been displaced inside the country.

Among those who have found refuge in London is a 30-year-old ex-soldier from Baghdad who asked to be identified as Abu Amir.

Despite holding a diploma in translation in six languages, including Dutch and Kurdish, Abu Amir works as a waiter in the restaurant owned by his uncle on London's Edgeware Road.

He was compelled to fight the invading US-led forces as a member of the army's Third Brigade, but managed to flee after the brigadier-general in command turned against Saddam.

''I am like the rest of us who came here to seek security and stability after Iraq was destroyed and the structure collapsed, although we were much better off financially in Iraq,'' he said, pointing to his Iraqi co-workers at a restaurant -- a mixture of Kurds, Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, and Assyrian Christians.

He entered Britain illegally in 2003 and was later recognised as a refugee and given political asylum. He has applied for citizenship, which he expects to be granted in six months.

Iraqis have been coming to former Mandate power Britain since the late 1930s, forming a community estimated at 250,000.

It is not clear how many of these have arrived since 2003.

The British-based charity Iraqi Association has been helping more than 10,000 Iraqis a year since it was established in 1987.

Although Abu Amir hopes to return home one day, he says insecurity there is getting worse, so he plans to stay in London for good. Almost all his family members are in Europe.

''I feel at home in London and at the moment, I feel better than I did at home,'' he says.

''In the past I used to say my oath to Saddam, now I will say it to the Queen because she gave us security and stability.'' Zangana, who has relatives in several Iraqi cities, still hankers for her homeland. Her London refuge is ''only a long-term lease'', she says. ''Therefore, my exile is only temporary.'' REUTERS AD RK1012