Piecing together a battered Iraqi city

[unhappycamper]

An Iraqi carries away rebar on Saturday from a building destroyed by a vehicle bomb and multiple rocket hits. The owner of the building now hopes to rebuild and start leasing to new tenants.


Piecing together a battered Iraqi city
By Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, January 23, 2009

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq — Workers and heavy machinery dug at the remains of Muhmood Arahe’s building.

The structure, now a pile of rubble along Abu Ghraib’s main thoroughfare, had been a home to tenants and a source of income for the Iraqi landlord and his 20 brothers before it was destroyed by a series of bombings two years ago.

It is now only a grim landmark, one of the last reminders of the catastrophic violence that has plagued downtown Abu Ghraib.

But piece by piece, the Iraqi government, with help from the U.S. military, has been working to clear the tons of war debris from the city center — and give Muhmood the hope of once again taking up business as a landlord on the property.

"The government is going to compensate us and we are going to set up shops," said Muhmood, who has filed a claim for compensation money in Iraqi court.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60186