Baghdadis turn to books once banned

Iraqis are buying political and religious books and snapping up satellite dishes once banned under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein, to quench a thirst for information they were once denied.

On the famed Mutanabi Street book market of Baghdad, shopkeepers and vendors who work right off the pavement shrug off any concern about the sky-rocketing sales of satellite dishes since the end of the US-led war to oust Saddam a year ago. “People are buying more books since the end of the war,” said Mohammed al-Yawi, who owns Al-Naktha, one of the oldest bookshops in Baghdad. —AFP

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