Life becomes even more lonely for Iraqi diplomats

‘‘I have to do the jobs of five people now,’’ he said, sitting next to a big Iraqi flag and under a fading black-and-white picture of a smiling President Saddam Hussein. Among those new chores, carried out in rooms with peeling wallpaper and frayed carpets, are stamping passports himself and typing some of his own letters.

The 49-year-old Shooker cuts a lonely figure on a big couch in Baghdad’s embassy to the Vatican, which was not affected by the Italian order. Even before the outbreak of the current war, Iraqi diplomats in Italy were rarely seen on the diplomatic circuit. Now, the winds of war have made it even more difficult to be Baghdad’s man in Rome.

‘‘If I’m invited to a reception or something I’ll have to go with my own car and won’t have a place to park. There are a lot of little difficulties,’’ he said.

‘‘I will have to work all day and at night also,’’ he said, joking that the typing classes he took a long time ago at the start of his diplomatic career have now come in handy.

Washington has asked 60 countries to expel diplomats it says are engaged in espionage. Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Greece, the Philippines, Sweden, Australia and Romania have expelled Iraqi diplomats. Other countries, including France and the Netherlands, have refused.

Italy’s pro-American government, acting despite criticism from the Opposition, said the four expelled diplomats were a security threat.

And, like them, he defends the man who Washington wants, dead or alive. ‘‘Saddam is not a threat. Our President is not a threat,’’ he said, adding that he would not be surprised if Italy decides to close up his little diplomatic shop altogether.

He said he has packed his bags and told his children to be prepared to leave fast if the telephone call should come.

‘‘My family’s fate is in Iraq. This is our country. Maybe I will lose my job but that’s OK. I’m not afraid of going back.’’ (Reuters)