The Missing Link

Could this be a good omen for the future?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -- In the aftermath of Baghdad's bridge stampede that claimed more than a thousand lives last week, an unlikely hero has risen as a symbol of Iraqi unity at a time of sectarian tension.

Uthman al-Ubaidi, a 19-year-old Sunni, jumped into the river Tigris where dozens of pilgrims from the rival Muslim Shiite sect were drowning in the murky waters after being forced off the bridge overhead.

He rescued six people from the brink of death. When he went back for a seventh, his strength failed him and he never returned.

After heavy media coverage, the young man from Aadhamiya -- a Sunni district across the river from Kadhamiya, the site of a major Shiite mosque -- has become a household name, and a rallying call for Iraqi reconciliation.

Dozens of posters of him are plastered on walls across his district. His image sits in front of two main mosques, one Shiite and one Sunni.

This proves that heroes can come from anywhere, and from many backgrounds. Last week's stampede was a horrible tragedy; perhaps some good can come of it, from the example of this courageous young man.