In February 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a team to carry out work in Iraq, and in the absence of guards in the early stage, Ambassador Sun Bigan and his party of four people came to the looted embassy, but they did not expect that the premises had been occupied, and one of the young men was carrying a pistol and had an arrogant attitude.
In May 2003, the large-scale U.S. military operation against Iraq ended. In June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to send a team to work in Iraq, a task that fell to Ambassador Sun Bigan, who had retired.
In July, Ambassador Sun and four of his party entered Iraq from Jordan to investigate the post-war situation.
When they arrived at the embassy, they saw a homeless Iraqi who had been living in the embassy for more than half a month.
One of the young men with a pistol in his waist said, "I live near here, the house has been blown up, so I live here, and I have been allowed by the U.S. military." ”
Sun Da said word for word in Arabic, "This is not American territory, nor Iraqi territory, but Chinese territory, and I hope you will move out of here as soon as possible." ”
In fact, the situation in the embassy premises was very bad: what could be removed from the embassy had been looted, most of the window glass had been broken, and the damage to the premises was very severe.
In addition, there are shootings, suicide bombs, and car bomb attacks. Ambassador Sun applied to "send troops from China as soon as possible to guard the safety of the personnel of the restoration team to ensure the successful completion of the restoration task." ”
This heavy responsibility eventually fell to the armed police force.
In February 2004, six armed police special combatants departed from Beijing and took a flight to Moscow to transfer to Jordan.
When we arrived in Amman, it was already evening, and Ambassador Sun and others were already waiting at the airport.
After the two sides converged, they set off from Amman for Iraq.
The whole journey is more than 500 kilometers, passing through the vast desert and crossing the reed fields.
Without planes, they had to take the highway by car, which also had to pass through the most dangerous areas of Fallujah and Ramadi.
Just a few days ago, Vietnamese counsellors and Italian journalists were killed on this road, which is internationally called the "road of death."
Six special combatants were armed with live ammunition and highly vigilant, and finally the security escort team arrived in Iraq, which was full of devastation and ruins.
But that's just the beginning of the thrill.
In April, Arabia television reported that seven Chinese had been abducted by unknown elements in Fallujah.
After rigorous investigation and verification, the restoration team determined that 7 Chinese citizens were abducted when they entered Iraq from the Border of Iraq. They quickly reported the news to the country and launched a rescue as directed.
After negotiations and multi-channel rescue work, the 7 hostages were safely released, and the restoration team was awarded the collective second class merit.
In June, a suicide bombing occurred at a recruiting station in Iraq through which Ambassador Sun's vehicle was passing, just 40 metres from the site of the explosion.
The leader of the guard group, Xi Zhaozhu, immediately directed the convoy to detour, successfully avoiding the attack on the convoy.
According to the requirements of the task, the restoration team spent half a year to complete the restoration work, so the required supplies were prepared in half a year.
However, due to the complicated local situation, the road to the restoration of the museum is full of difficulties and the time has been repeatedly postponed.
The 6 special combatants and the restoration team are not only personally safe, but even basic daily necessities are not guaranteed.
Black water often flows out of the old water pipes, and because the local diet is mostly beef and mutton, this eating habit has brought great challenges to the special combatants. In order to maintain their full strength, they must force themselves to swallow.
In addition, the special combatants took turns on duty by four people during the day, four hours per two people, and five people on duty for ten hours from ten o'clock in the evening to eight o'clock in the morning, two hours each. If the restoration team goes out, they also have to be closely guarded.
Such intense security work, coupled with long-term mental pressure, is also a formidable challenge for several special operators in their 20s.
Embassy guards in other countries are rotated once every three to six months, but due to the tight time and tense situation, our restoration team and guard team have insisted on more than a year, and finally completed the restoration task and the preliminary guard task after the restoration.
On January 18, 2005, just as the people of the whole country were preparing to welcome the New Year, they suddenly received news that eight returned citizens from the mainland had been kidnapped, and the militants threatened to execute the hostages within 48 hours if the Chinese side did not explain.
The ambassador to Iraq immediately mobilized all resources to carry out the rescue, and at the same time released goodwill to the militants through multiple media, but the militants did not respond.
On the evening of the 19th, militants suddenly released a video saying that Chinese citizens were prohibited from entering Iraq.
The ambassador to Iraq quickly made a statement asking Chinese citizens to feed themselves for security concerns and not to travel to Iraq.
On the 22nd, the militants released a third video, claiming that in view of the sincerity shown by the Chinese side, they decided to release 8 hostages, but did not mention the location and specific time of release of the hostages.
Until the 23rd, the militant entrusted the ambassador of Black China to call and asked the embassy to send someone to a place more than 150 kilometers from Baghdad at 1 p.m. on the same day to pick up people.
This place was none other than the unstable Fallujah, and even the local police did not dare to enter it, and they advised our guards that "in case it is a trap, you will not be able to come back." ”
Ambassador Zhai Jun said, "Even if it is a trap, as long as my life can be exchanged for the lives of 8 compatriots, it is worth it."
Subsequently, escorted by 4 guards, Ambassador Zhai Jun and Ambassador Yang Honglin went to rescue the 8 hostages.
The 4 guards were heavily armed and carried light machine guns. Since local communications had been controlled, they gave up all communication devices to prevent leaks and lost contact with the embassy as soon as they left the hotel.
Fortunately, there was no danger along the way, after reaching the designated location of the militants. All personnel were asked to remove their body armor, machine guns and shoes and walked barefoot into the militants' lairs.
After more than two hours of long talks, 8 Chinese compatriots were finally released. Subsequently, the rescue team arrived safely with 8 compatriots at the hotel of the temporary embassy.
On the 26th, under the arrangement of the embassy, 8 compatriots flew back to the embrace of the motherland.
