DeclinetoState
02-10-2006, 12:58 PM
By ROBERT F. WORTH (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=ROBERT F. WORTH&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=ROBERT F. WORTH&inline=nyt-per)
</NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>BAGHDAD, Iraq (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), Feb. 9 — On a recent rainy afternoon, Ahmad Nader Ali sat in a booth at the ShreifiNet Cafe, sending instant messages to his brother who lives in Finland on one screen window and his fiancée, Nour, on another. A tiny Web camera sat atop the computer, beaming live images of him to Nour's home screen across Baghdad.
"Because of the situation, I'm not able to go and see her often," said Mr. Ali, a confident 20-year-old with slicked-back hair who runs a men's clothing store. "Everybody does it like this."
Nearby, partially hidden by wood-paneled booths, were a dozen other young men staring intently at their screens, most chatting simultaneously on three or four different e-mail accounts. All of them were paying 1,500 dinars an hour — about a dollar — to escape the gray confines of Baghdad's blasted walls for a while. Two heavyset men sat on a black faux-leather couch by the door, keeping a watchful eye on the street.
Three years ago, the Internet was virtually unknown in Iraq.
More at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/international/middleeast/10internet.html?ei=5065&en=bbfa6fefa812ea81&ex=1140152400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
</NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>BAGHDAD, Iraq (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), Feb. 9 — On a recent rainy afternoon, Ahmad Nader Ali sat in a booth at the ShreifiNet Cafe, sending instant messages to his brother who lives in Finland on one screen window and his fiancée, Nour, on another. A tiny Web camera sat atop the computer, beaming live images of him to Nour's home screen across Baghdad.
"Because of the situation, I'm not able to go and see her often," said Mr. Ali, a confident 20-year-old with slicked-back hair who runs a men's clothing store. "Everybody does it like this."
Nearby, partially hidden by wood-paneled booths, were a dozen other young men staring intently at their screens, most chatting simultaneously on three or four different e-mail accounts. All of them were paying 1,500 dinars an hour — about a dollar — to escape the gray confines of Baghdad's blasted walls for a while. Two heavyset men sat on a black faux-leather couch by the door, keeping a watchful eye on the street.
Three years ago, the Internet was virtually unknown in Iraq.
More at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/international/middleeast/10internet.html?ei=5065&en=bbfa6fefa812ea81&ex=1140152400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print