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Horror and porn rub shoulders in Baghdad
By Amer Ouali
September 21, 2004
Baghdad - Hostage throat-slitting and pornography rub shoulders in the stalls
of the infamous "thieves market" in the heart of Baghdad.
Television sets rigged to sound systems broadcast the sights and sounds of
tortured hostages, belly dancers and pornographic movie stars in the open-air
stalls of Bab al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad.
Shoppers can ask stallholders to play DVDs that catch their attention.
Behind a plastic case, a dull picture of a local singer on the cover, are
concealed the grisly exploits of the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War)
group of alleged al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
The telltale sign is a little white rectangular sticker on the sleeve, on which
is written by hand in Arabic, "Al-Assifa" (storm).
The televisions show images, some of them previously aired on the Arab
satellite channel al-Jazeera, of hostages being murdered or attacks on United
States forces in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.
The graphic footage is accompanied by a martial beat and thunderous songs about
"resistance" and "honour".
In one video, an Egyptian hostage - his hands tied behind his back - sits in
front of a banner with the Tawhid wal Jihad emblem.
He makes his confession, swearing he planted electronic bugs in Iraqi cities so
US warplanes could pick out their targets. He confesses he provided women to
coalition soldiers.
Standing behind him, three masked men prepare to deliver their judgement. Two
grip Kalashnikovs, while the third brandishes a knife and reads out his
verdict.
"The spies are sent from Satan's caravan," the man says. And in a sudden
motion, the Egyptian's throat is sliced and his head cut off amid cries of
"Allah Akbar".
"The Nepalese, the Bulgarians and others will be subjected to the same fate,"
warns the executioner.
Pedestrians pass by these grotesque flickering images. No one says a word.
Asked where they got the discs, the vendors refuse to answer.
One wryly asks: "Do you want some culture?"
And he takes out a DVD entitled "A special night with good time girls",
featuring a lingerie-clad woman surrounded by busty companions on the cover.
He pops it in the player and the plot unfolds: a woman dances in a tight
shoulderless dress as turbaned men watch and she occasionally caresses them.
Leaning over the counter, the saleman interjects: "There are better things that
I could show you but I can't do it here."
A passer-by winks: "He means blue movies."
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