'Six years ago Tariq Aziz, then deputy PM of Iraq, invited me to visit the country to see the effect of sanctions. Having started to engage with the religious leaders of Iraq, I became the point of contact between the Coalition Provisional Authority and these leaders after the war. We then started the Centre for Dialogue Reconciliation and Peace, which is the foremost organisation in Iraq for engagement with religious and tribal leaders and the new Government. We work under the patronage of the Prime Minister, and we also have a strategic role in hostage negotiations.'It is a roller coaster existence in the new Iraq. Ecstasy and despair are part of life. There again, is not salvation history a narrative of ecstasy and despair? Behind the scenes there are real people working day and night to try and ensure that this experiment of rebuilding a rogue nation works. For the people of Iraq, who knows how long it will really be before they see a difference?'Andrew is hugely commited to the people of Iraq and his writing has a powerful immediacy. His life has been in danger several times but he keeps going in the most adverse of circumstances. Not only does he relate to those at a high level, but he has befriended orphan children in Iraq and started up a Trust for their benefit.
