The Tightening Dark
Page 26
Sana’a sits in a bowl at more than 7,000 feet of elevation, ringed by craggy mountains. Its climate is unexpectedly pleasant for its location in otherwise scorching Arabia. Its tower houses and the minarets of the Old City’s mosques, many of which will not have survived this latest war, lend a sense of fairytale otherworldliness and ancient urbanity to the view. Through this landscape, invisible to him as he was nearly suffocating with a bag drawn tight over his head, Sam’s captors drove him from his villa in Hadda on the south side of Sana’a along a twisting route meant to disorient him. Eventually he would end up in a prison building to the northeast of the Old City. (UNESCO; photo by Maria Gropa; CC SA-3.0)
One of the more famous mosques in the Old City of Sana’a, al-Bakiriyya, was built by the Ottomans in the mid-1500s. It remains a fixture of worship today. NSB Headquarters, where Abeer selflessly ventured day after day to inquire about Sam’s whereabouts, is very near this mosque. (Photo by H. Grobe; CC SA-3.0)
A 737 jet plane owned by Oman Air, here on the runway in Cairo. Oman’s Sultan Qaboos ordered a plane much like this to transport Sam when he was finally released by the Houthis. The Omanis maintain a careful neutrality in the Middle East and therefore were able to serve an instrumental role in helping Sam reach freedom. (© Raimond Spekking; CC SA 4.0 via Wikipedia Commons; converted to grayscale)
Sam, thinner and showing the pain of his captivity, emerges onto the tarmac in Muscat, Oman, after being freed from captivity in Sana’a. (NBC News)
Sam stands on the ramparts of the old, ruined castle in Tebnine and points across the valley toward the bells of the church towers in the Christian part of town. Although not seen in this photo, the minaret of Tebnine’s mosque also rises above the valley—two faith traditions coexisting in the town. Following his ordeal and now in retirement, Sam has returned to rebuild his life, living for much of the year in a house on the outskirts of town. (Author collection)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SO MANY people have been an important part of my life that to mention all of them, I would need to write an additional chapter. This list is necessarily, therefore, incomplete. If you’ve ever interacted with me, you know that I have thought of you and you are here, silently acknowledged.
The most influential people in my life have been my father, Mohammed, who always taught me that truth and honesty are the best ways forward; my mother, Rahme Fawaz, who worked all of her life to provide a better life for my siblings and me; those siblings themselves, too—Ibtisam, Hisham, and Bassem, who are the backbone of our family; my late uncle Robert Hamzey, a one-of-a-kind person who sponsored us to come to America back when my mother decided we must leave the Middle East; my wife and first love, Zeinab, who held things together for me, a true military wife; my children, Mohammed, Ali, Marcelle, and Amira, and granddaughters, Sophia and Samantha, for the big part they’ve played in fulfilling my life.
Beyond family, I’d like to thank Ben Buchholz, who put this book together with me; Elise Capron, our agent; and Robert Pigeon, our very patient editor, who worked hard on getting this book into print. I’d also like to thank my brothers and sisters in arms, especially my fellow Marines, who made me the man I am today; as well as all the fabulous, dedicated diplomats I’ve served with during times both fun and difficult.
Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge a man who has been my second father and mentor since my father passed away—a man who in every sense exhibited the ultimate in kindness, sincerity, and integrity: my uncle George (Jalil) Saad.
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