| By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer Sun Apr 30, 2:25 PM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Even while
Iraq languished under crippling U.N. economic sanctions, upscale Arrasat Street thrived. Trendy stores with foreign names brimmed with sexy lingerie and Swiss watches. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs whizzed past pricey restaurants where Western love songs played.
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Now Arrasat is quiet. Too quiet.
"For sale," reads a sign on a closed store. "Huge discounts: 75 percent off," screams another.
Arrasat was Baghdad's fanciest commercial strip under
Saddam Hussein, thriving on goods smuggled in under the U.N. restrictions that followed Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. After the collapse of Saddam's regime, it saw a short-lived boom that brought hopes of economic prosperity.
But before long, its fortunes reversed. Car bombings, kidnappings and a general lack of security across Iraq took a toll, turning the street into a shadow of its former self.
On a recent afternoon, Farid Youssef stood on the sidewalk, looking bored, next to the men's clothing store where he works.
One sign on Men's World announced hefty discounts. Another declared the store was for sale. Inside, there were no customers for the elegant imported Italian and French suits that hung from racks.
"Before, the door to my store wouldn't close. It was one customer after another," Youssef, 38, said. "Now, hardly anyone stops by to say even hello."
Sometimes he doesn't make a sale for days. He kills time by flipping through newspapers and magazines and sipping coffee with friends from neighboring shops.
Youssef said he now must close early to be home no later than 5 p.m. because it's too dangerous to be out at dark.
He nostalgically recalls Arrasat's heyday.
"We used to open at 10 in the morning and not close before 1 or 2 a.m. People would come and go all day long," he said. "When there was a special occasion, the street would bustle until 3 a.m., especially on New Year's. Now, New Year's Eve comes and goes and you would hardly notice."
Many here say Arrasat's decline began on New Year's Eve 2004. A car bomb exploded outside the chic Nabil restaurant, where Iraqi and foreign patrons had gathered for a night of drinks, live music and bellydancing. Five Iraqis were killed and 35 people wounded, including several foreigners.
Since then, the faces on the street have changed.
Foreigners now are a rare sight on any Baghdad street because of fears of attacks or kidnapping.
Many of the wealthy Iraqis who could afford the goodies on Arrasat have fled the country. So, too, have many of Arrasat's business owners after a wave of kidnappings for ransom that targeted the rich.
Youssef plans to move to Jordan, where a new branch of Men's World is set to open once the Baghdad one closes.
But selling stores on Arrasat has not been easy lately.
Fares Assem, 40, knows this. He has been trying to rent out a storefront he bought three months ago. He got some calls, but all tried to bargain down the price and no deal was reached. A few years ago, "a store on Arrasat would have been snapped up in a day," he said.
Assem, who lives near his store, said real estate prices on Arrasat spiked in anticipation of foreign investors streaming into Baghdad after the regime's fall.
"Everyone expected that Iraq would be a model for the whole Arab world. We thought there would be an economic boom, but it now looks like this was all bogus talk," Youssef lamented.
Moustafa al-Hassani, the 49-year-old Egyptian manager of Lathikiya, one of Arrasat's most famous restaurants, said that while business is bad, the insecurity is worse.
"You leave your home wondering if there will be a car bomb or blast on your way," he said.
It is lunch time at Lathikiya, and al-Hassani, dressed in a black suit and crisp white shirt, greets customers with a smile. Water cascades down a fountain in the center and plastic green plants spiral around white columns. The aroma of grilled kebabs permeates the air.
But only a handful of tables are occupied.
"After the war, there was a lot of work. The people went about their business normally. Then we were shocked because fewer people ventured out because of the explosions," he said. "Now the restaurant is struggling to pay the salaries of the employees."
"Our hearts are broken because of what has become of the country. We're psychologically burned out," he said.
Along with the woes, there are hints of Iraq's progress in Arrasat.
Campaign posters from last year's elections — unimaginable under Saddam — remain plastered to walls and roadblocks. New cars have replaced the old ones with cracked windshields that were a hallmark of sanctions.
Auto traffic is heavy, worsened by checkpoints and routes sealed off by the government — sometimes with no notice. On a recent afternoon, traffic stopped with cars screeching and crawling. | |
