Where is Lazam?
Lazam Faraj Rwaili, aged 23, joined the Iraqi Police Service Unit in August of this year.
In early November, Lazam was in a contingent of Iraqi Police traveling from their own city in Anbar Province to another station in Salah-ad-Din Province. Sitting in jail in the other station was the most wanted man for their own city: a very dangerous terrorist, responsible for many Iraqi and American deaths. They were going to attempt to retrieve him and return him to their city, where he could be further (and lawfully) interrogated by those with a more vested interest in the information he might provide than his jailers in the other province, where he had gone to ground.
When the police arrived at the station, they soon found their man and took photos of him in jail, proving that he was there. Unfortunately, they could not obtain his transfer because the paperwork had become fouled at some higher level in the police bureaucracy. So they departed to return to their city.
The road between these two cities is not a pleasant place. The US and Iraqi forces have been so successful in pushing terrorists out of populated areas that many have taken up refuge between them. The police convoy came under automatic weapons fire from another vehicle, which then sped away. The police, in several Ford F-350s with mounted PKC machine guns, began a flanking movement to pursue and cut off their attackers. At this point, Lazam, riding in the bed of one of the trucks, was struck by a shot to his left lung. He began to cough up a great deal of blood. His vehicle stopped the pursuit in order for his fellows to render first aid, while the rest of the convoy continued their pursuit. Just as they were maneuvering to cut off the enemy, a US Army convoy came down the road, blocking their fields of fire. The enemy slipped away. The police halted the convoy and tried to explain what had happened, but both were without a translator. One thing was clear to both though: Lazam was in bad shape, and needed help fast...
