Broken-hearted Baghdad lovers mourn Valentine's fun

Broken-hearted Baghdad lovers mourn Valentine's fun
by Khalil Jalil and Michaela Cancela-Kieffer
8 minutes ago


BAGHDAD (AFP) - Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.

Sixty kilometres (38 miles) separate 34-year-old Ali from his girlfriend, but it might as well be a thousand. The hour-long drive from Baghdad to his hometown Baquba -- and his love -- is too dangerous.

Last year he gave her perfume, this year he's trying to find a friend who can pass on his best wishes after fleeing a town once known to Iraqis as a city of orange groves, now as a hotbed of sectarian attacks.

Before the war, Ali planned to get married. Now, his life is on hold.

"It'd be too much responsibility. If I have to flee, on my own, that's fair enough. But if I had to look after a wife and kids, that'd be hard," he said, explaining that he'd received explicit death threats from a militant group.

"Maybe in 2010," he laughs with the black humour that keeps Iraqis going in the dark time that have gripped their country.

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An Iraqi buys red roses for Valentine's Day at a flower shop in central Baghdad. Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.(AFP/Sabah Arar)

I guess it's already the Americanization of Iraq.

all the writings are in english and it seems really odd to have "Saint Valentines Day" celebrated in such a predominantly Muslim part of the world.... and celebrated in the same manor as here? ALso.. is it not odd to see a flower shop, especially one stocking up on imported roses, in a place where they are struggling to get food, water, electricity and gas?

A woman stands amid Valentine's Day decorations in a shop in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb.


Iraqi women inspect red roses and gifts for Valentine's Day outside a flower shop in central Baghdad. Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.(AFP/Sabah Arar)


Iraqi women buy roses in Baghdad on Valentine's Day in 2006. Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.(AFP/File/Sabah Arar)


Iraqi women buy red carnations from a street vendor in the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Valentine's Day in 2006. Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.(AFP/File/Marwan Ibrahim)


An Iraqi man buys flowers in Kirkuk on Valentine's Day in 2006. Hopeful Baghdad florists have stocked up with imported red roses and affectionate gifts for sweethearts and mothers, but a dark shadow of fear hangs over this year's Valentine's Day.(AFP/File/Marwan Ibrahim)

I have to side with those who find this... odd.