Topic: Saddam Hussein

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Scene from Baghdad (image: Hella Mewis)

20 years after the U.S. invasion

Iraq's wounds are slow to heal

20 years after the U.S. invasion, the country between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is only just beginning to recover from the aftermath. But the road is paved with obstacles. Birgit Svensson reports from IraqMore

Kurdistan's decline: Iraq's beacon shines no moreThe Iraq War fifteen years on: "America destroyed my country"Iraqi author Sinan Antoon: The West and its cliched view of Iraq10 years after 9/11: Terror in the name of virtue
Mourners carry the remains of people from the minority Yazidi sect, who were killed by Islamic State militants, after they were exhumed from a mass grave, to bury them in Kojo, 6 February 2021 (image: REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)

20 years after Saddam's fall

Iraq still haunted by missing persons

When he first heard that U.S. troops had toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraqi engineer Hazem Mohammed thought he would finally be able to find his brother, who had been shot dead and dumped in a mass grave after a failed uprising against Saddam's rule in 1991More

Germany's Baerbock in Iraq: German foreign minister pushes for stabilityMiddle East: In Iraq, sectarian prejudice goes beyond the graveSlaves of Islamic State: The fight to find the missing Yazidis
Baghdad Reading Festival on the Tigris (image: Birgit Svensson)

Iraq's art and literature scene

Culture boom in Baghdad

Frustrated with their politicians, young Iraqis are turning their backs on politics and throwing themselves into cultural life. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Protests in Iraq: The streets speak for themselves!Reform in Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr must court the political eliteFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living
A woman walks past graves in the new cemetery on the western side of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, 9 June 2021 (photo: Getty Images)

Middle East

In Iraq, sectarian prejudice goes beyond the grave

The "Islamic State" group is gone, but many of their Iraqi victims are still missing. They may well be buried in mass graves the extremists left. But critics say exhumations are too slow, and possibly politically biased. By Judit NeurinkMore

Slaves of Islamic State: The fight to find the missing YazidisThe reconquest of Fallujah: The serpent′s headQantara photo essay: Liberating Mosul from "Islamic State"
First session after the election: meeting of the Iraqi parliament, January 2022. (photo: Iraqi Parliament Press Office/Handout/AA/picture alliance)

Iraq bans contact with Israel

Anti-Semitism as state doctrine?

A law has been passed by the Iraqi parliament that criminalises any contact with Israel. In the midst of heated debates on the subject, one crucial aspect has been forgotten: the restitution of Jewish property. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Iraqi Jews: Iraqi Judaism lives on in literary form"Baghdad, yesterday - The making of an Arab Jew"Iraq post-Islamic State: The surprising survival of Mosulʹs Jewish quarterJewish Diplomatic Corps visits UAE: "Our preconceptions are at odds with reality"
A newly restored grave in the cemetery of St. George's Monastery, Mosul, Iraq (photo by Judit Neurink/DW)

Christians in the Middle East

Rebuilding churches in Iraq

Much effort is being put into rebuilding churches in Iraq that were destroyed by Islamic State. The message of hope is for Christians to return. Judit Neurink reports from MosulMore

Christians in Iraq: Between the frontsChristians in Iraq: Coping with wrack and ruinChristians in the Middle East: Between co-existence and suppression
Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad (photo: Birgit Svensson)

Ukraine and Iraq

Compassion yes, sympathy no

Iraq is in a quandary over Russia and Ukraine. Its attitude toward Kiev is ambivalent, yet it still hopes to emerge as one of the winners in this war. If Russia fails as an oil supplier, Iraq could step in. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Kurdistan's decline: Iraq's beacon shines no moreClimate heroes in Iraq: A life for the treesParliamentary elections in Iraq: Low turnout, high drama
Erbil beneath the citadel (photo: Birgit Svensson)

Kurdistan's decline

Iraq's beacon shines no more

The Kurds are fleeing Kurdistan. The wave of refugees on the Belarusian-Polish border and the drowned Kurds in the English Channel are only the tip of the iceberg. Birgit Svensson visited Erbil and Dohuk to find that the exodus from Kurdistan has already been going on for several yearsMore

Young people in Iraqi Kurdistan: Turning towards religion or away from it?The uncertain future of Kurdish autonomy: What next for Iraqʹs Kurds?Kurdish referendum for political relevance: Papering over the cracks
Climate campaigner Muwafaq Mubareka (right) with his cousin Ali in the tree nursery in the south of Baghdad. Where there used to be orange groves, trees are now growing for the reforestation of Iraq (photo: Birgit Svensson)

Climate heroes in Iraq

A life for the trees

It is getting hotter and hotter in Iraq. Fifty degrees or more is no longer a rarity. The state between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is now one of the hottest countries on earth. Muwafaq Mubareka from Baghdad is determined to fight global warming. Birgit Svensson paid the climate hero a visitMore

COP26 climate conference: Saudi Arabia's climate strategy – greenwashing or genuine transformation?Political scientist Tobias Zumbraegel: How are Middle East countries coping with climate change?Environmental expert Tarik M. Quadir: "If we don’t pull together to save the earth, we will ‘sink’ together"Climate change in Bangladesh: The end of the line for climate migrants in Dhaka
Iraq's interim Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi at the polling station (photo: Khalid Mohammed/AA/picture-alliance)

Parliamentary elections in Iraq

Change or political stagnation in Baghdad?

Will Iraq's parliamentary elections bring change? The new electoral law, which allowed independent candidates to stand for the first time, provided a golden opportunity. But not many people took advantage of it. And voter turnout was shamefully low. Birgit Svensson reports from Baghdad and MosulMore

Iraq's electricity crisis: Iraqis left in the dark by their corrupt politiciansFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth livingIraq's new government: Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operationMiddle East: Factbox: Who's competing in Iraq's elections?
Muqtada Haider turns the switches to transfer electricity to private homes in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, 10 September 2021 (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq's electricity crisis

Iraqis left in the dark by their corrupt politicians

Every electricity minister since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein has faced the same daunting equation: Iraq should be able to produce over 30,000 megawatts of power, enough to meet current demand, but only about a half of that reaches consumers. Samya Kullab explores the reasons whyMore

U.S. enemy and friend of Iran? Muqtada al-Sadr, the most powerful man in IraqIraq's new government: Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operationFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth livingProtesting corruption and mismanagement in Iraq: Caught in the spotlight
Iraqi tank manned by Iraqi soldiers, four of whom are giving the V-sign (photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

US withdrawal from Iraq

Not Afghanistan: Why the US and Iraq won't leave one another

While agreeing last week to a withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq, neither Iraqi nor US leaders can admit publicly how much they need each other. By Cathrin SchaerMore

Iraqi novelist Sinan Antoon: "America destroyed my country"US enemy and friend of Iran?: Muqtada al-Sadr, the most powerful man in IraqIraq's new government: Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operationInterview with Nihad Salim Qoja: "Iranian hegemony in Iraq is very strong"
Attendees sit in the pews at the Chaldean Catholic Church of the Assumption of Mary in Iraq's capital Baghdad on 8 December 2020 (photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Preparing for Pope Francis' visit

The scant remains of Iraq's ancient Christian community

Some fled after the U.S.-led invasion, others during sectarian bloodshed and more following jihadist attacks. Iraq's last two violent decades have hollowed out its Christian community which dates back two millennia.More

Christians in Iraq: Between the frontsChristians in Iraq: Coping with wrack and ruinCOVID-19 in Iraq: Working under the coronavirus curfew in Baghdad
Still from the film "Identity Limits", in which a mother struggles against the general perception in her Mosul neighbourhood that her husband was a "Daeshi," a member of IS (photo: elbarlament)

Iraqi women filmmakers

The power of stories and moving images

The four short films produced as part of the "Women Make Film" project are well worth seeing. They grapple with the ghosts that haunt Iraq: the horrors of IS rule, outdated gender roles and the aftermath of dictatorship. Christopher Resch spoke to the filmmakersMore

Showcasing the writing of Iraqi women: Close to the wounds, but even closer to hopeWomen's liberation in the Gulf: Arab women – fighting for their rights for 60 yearsThe icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October RevolutionCivil society held hostage by corruption and murder: Libya's peace process doomed to failure without its womenInterview with Sudanese-Egyptian writer Leila Aboulela: The challenge of identity in a non-monochrome world
On their reading tour through Germany, Iraqi authors Rola Buraq, Azhar Ali Hussein und Amal Ibrahim (left to right) spoke about their work and current developments in Iraq. Birgit Svensson (right) is the initiator of the Inanna network; in the background translator Günther Orth (photo: Christopher Resch)

Showcasing the writing of Iraqi women

Close to the wounds, but even closer to hope

The second volume of “Mit den Augen von Inana” (Through the Eyes of Inanna) is an impressive collection of purely female perspectives on modern Iraq, from the Saddam era through to the contemporary Tahrir Revolution. Christopher Resch spoke to three of the authorsMore

Women writers in Iraq: Writing to stay aliveInternational Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014: "Frankenstein in Baghdad": Beyond good and evil
The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, addresses the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad on 6 May 2020 (photo: picture-alliance/AA/Iraqi Parliament)

Iraq's new government

Mr Kadhimi begins a clean-up operation

The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has great plans. As he moves to realise those plans, he's fighting on many fronts. As the Americans pull out of Iraq, militias supported by Iran are violently consolidating their position. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Iraq's revolutionary women: The female paramedics of Tahrir SquareThe icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October RevolutionThe cultural scene in Iraq: Returning to something like normality

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