No image available
/ 27 October 2005
”Abu Theeb is a tall, handsome, well-built man with a thin beard and thick eyebrows. His name is a nom de guerre: it means Father of the Wolf. He is a farmer during daylight and a commander of a mujahedin cell, a group of holy warriors, at night.” Ghaith Abdul-Ahad goes behind the lines with Iraqi insurgents.
No image available
/ 26 September 2005
I had been dreading this moment for weeks, but I knew it would come inevitably. The night before leaving for Baghdad; preparing for yet another trip to that doomed city to report on yet more violence. For weeks at a time, I had lived in denial. I had told myself, no, it’s not happening; no, I am not going back there.
No image available
/ 28 January 2005
Election fever is picking up. Almost every single wall in the city is covered by hundreds of posters, some pasted over others, giving a sense that Baghdad is itself one big collage of big heads, white beards and moustaches mingled with the Samsung phone ads. By far the most distributed poster is that of the Shia list.
No image available
/ 27 January 2005
What started as secular socialist rule under the Ba’athists ended as a tribal Sunni regime led by Hussein. For centuries they have comprised the ruling class, but since the fall of Hussein everything has changed for Iraq’s Sunni Arabs. This weekend’s elections are likely only to reinforce their disaffection.
No image available
/ 3 December 2004
Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi artists were forced to produce works that glorified the leader. Now the subject they most want to depict is the violence around them. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports.
No image available
/ 11 October 2004
For the first time in more than 35 years Iraqis are free to talk, discuss and debate — publicly and relatively without fear — the political and social aspects of their daily life. But for most of them all they can talk about is violence. What happened this morning? How many mortars fell on your neighbourhood yesterday? Did the Americans free your cousins or are they still being ”interrogated”?