The Sinak Bridge in Baghdad offered a breathtaking view of the snaking Tigris in the Cradle of Civilization, where pivotal technological innovations such as writing, the wheel, and irrigation originated
Baghdad Green Zone, the heart of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime which was sealed off for Americans when they made it their base after the US invasion of Iraq, continued to be a symbol of tyranny symbolizing the disconnect between Iraq’s new rulers and ordinary citizens
Dictators have long sought legitimacy by appropriating the symbols of ancient civilizations, to build personality cults, manufacture historical continuity, and portray themselves as heirs to glorious empires. Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, rebuilt parts of Rome to claim Roman Emperor Augustus’s legacy. Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler admired the ruins of imperial Rome, and Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein stamped his name onto its bricks as he partly reconstructed Babylon
The violence had begun to ebb by 2016 but corroded car bomb hulks, and abandoned, bombed out and bullet-riddled buildings represented the horrors Baghdad, the city of about seven million, had suffered
The graves at Wadi-al-Salaam, where burials have continued for over 1,400 years, are spread over 1,500 acres or an area equal to 900 rugby fields near Caliph Ali’s shrine in Iraq’s Najaf
Cleric Ayatollah Ali al Sistani rallied the demoralised Iraqis in June 2014 by issuing a fatwa calling on all able-bodied to resist ISIS when the terror group controlled 40% of Iraq
In 1963, crown prince Faisal told US ambassador Parker T Hart that ‘after Allah, we trust America’ while Saudis were involved in a confrontation with Egypt over Yemen, highlighting the depth of their relationship that has endured
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini developed wilayat al-faqih (the rule of the jurist theory), the basis for the Iranian political system, during his 15-year exile in a small house in the warren alleys ringing the shrine of the Prophet’s son-in-law, Caliph Imam Ali, in Iraq’s Najaf
As the faithful prayed at the mosque in Dubai’s Barsha Heights, their right to worship did not impinge on the rights of those going about their business in the vicinity, including women in shorts and mini-skirts
A culture of openness, pluralism, and innovation has transformed the United Arab Emirates into one of the most advanced countries globally in less than five decades after the country was formed encompassing tribal lands
