European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Assignment persian Gulf the Oil spill s hidden casualties Tamir and Rashid Mara Alln collect bait Flah from a blackened Beach near their Home of Safan Lya on the Northern saudi coast. The Brothers fishing income is less than a fifth of what it was before the persian Gulf War. Saddam s eco terror measured in lost Hopes soiled expectations. Tamir and Rashid Marsalis struggled for 15 years to build the Good life in saudi Arabia Only to lose it in the turn of a pipeline valve. The Brothers make their living fishing the persian Gulf Waters that Border their desert Home. They were born in poverty but a through hard work and Enterprise had begun to make a solid living in one of the most abundant fishing areas of the world. They carried their nets Teeth sea each morning before the Sun cracked the Golden desert horizon. Each evening they resumed Home with chests full of fish As Long As a Man s leg crabs that weighed up to 8 pounds and shrimp suitable for the finest restaurants. The fruit of the sea  to t. Markets in Jubal Dhahran and Riyadh made the Marsalis Well to do by their standards. They each had their own truck plus a new one for the business. They were Independent of the Large government company that controls 70 percent of the saudi fishing  for foreigners living in saudi Arabia Independence is a rare and treasured Way of life. Then came a Black death a rolling Swath of Oil on water smacking the beaches with a muck the consistency of melted chocolate depositing the scaly corpses of what once were the Brothers livelihood. Tamir and Rashid Marsalis done to remember hearing much about Saddam Hussein before aug. 2. As pakistanis living in saudi Arabia educated Only through elementary school they knew Little about the politics of the Region. But when iraqi troops opened the spigots at the sea Island terminal off the coast of Kuwait and millions of Gallons of crude Oil flooded the saudi coast Hussein made two new enemies. Quot i would kill him if i saw him Quot Tamir said. Quot i never hate a Man like i hate this  Tamir the older brother Speaks passable English picked up while working i in a hotel in Jubal. His brother Speaks almost no English. Neither Man can write his name in English which is unusual in. This nation where the English language is the common ground among Many nationalities. The Brothers left Pakistan in the Early 60s when their father came to saudi Arabia looking for work. The father found employment in a Riyadh hotel and the boys enrolled in school. Two years later the elder Marsalis died. Although the teen age boys had family in Pakistan the saudi government put them in an orphanage for foreigners in Jubal. Tamir soon went to work at a hotel and Rashid found work As a Fisherman. Quot the place the orphanage was not Good Quot Tamir said. Quot we worked and we left the  Rashid despite his Lack of formal education was keen enough to see that his employer was making very Good Rodney fishing. It was his idea for the two Brothers to go into the business for themselves. They sold their car making enough to rent a Small boat for a month. Another pakistani Fisherman gave them two nets and a shrimp Basket and led them to a place called Hanifah Bay. He told them it was one of the richest fishing Beds on the coast. That was 1976 and they be been fishing there Ever since. Word that Oil had been dumped into the Gulf spread through the fishing Community several Days before the Slick reached Hanifah Bay. But neither Marsalis brother owns a television and were not prepared for the Black mass that pushed and prodded by Ocean currents flowed through the Mouth of the Bay the first week of february. The Road to the Marsalis Homes in the town of Saf Aniya overlooks the Bay. It was from there on their Way to the Dock Early in sunday july 21, 1991 the morning that the Brothers saw the Slick moving into the Bay like a huge Black Serpent. Quot the Bay was full of fish that Day Quot Tamir said. Quot we caught too much. We broke a  a huge school of fish was moving in front of the Slick and the Marsalis took advantage. They caught nearly 2,000 pounds of fish which Tamir said is double what would otherwise be considered an exceptional haul. But within two Days Hanifah Bay was covered with an Inch of Black  fish and Birds struggled and died in the goo. The Marsalis tried to take their boat out of the Bay and fish the Waters to the South but the Shadow in the water caught them that afternoon just As they began pulling in their nets. Quot the fish were Black. They were Black inside Quot Tamir said. The Marsalis released almost All the doomed catch. It was their last Outing for More than a month. Cleanup Crews from the government run saudi Oil company Aramco reached Hanifah Bay a few Days later. The Bay formed a natural catch Basin for the moving Slick and pumps were used to suck the crude off the surface As it drifted South from Kuwait. An official with the saudi meteorological and environmental Protection Agency said that More than 100,000 Gallons of Oil were removed. While workers salvaged what they could the Marsalis watched hundreds of dead fish and Birds Wash up on the Beach. Many were collected and disposed of but Many More Sank into the Gulf. Quot i think the water is Poison Quot Tamir said. Page 6 a the stars and stripes