Lush lawns and mortars: Working in Baghdad's Green Zone

May 13, 2008, 12:40 GMT

Plumes of thick black smoke rise as helicopters patrol the area in central Baghdad\'s Green Zone after a rocket attack on 27 March 2008. EPA/FALEH KHEIBER

Baghdad - Life in Baghdad's Green Zone is not like anywhere else in the rest of Iraq. To some, it is heaven compared with the hell outside. Some have even described it as 'Little America on The Tigris'.

It is 'green' because it was meant to be a safe area for operation for US military and civilian authorities after the 2003 war.

It is distinct from the 'Red Zone' - another military designation that aptly describes the alarming level of violence engulfing the rest of Iraq.

Once the seat of power of the former regime of President Saddam Hussein, it is now the administrative centre of Iraq, housing its government and the US embassy.

Under Saddam, the area was not strictly delineated nor gated as it is now.

The grand boulevards running alongside it were open to traffic, showcasing Saddam's grandiose palaces in an attempt to impress and intimidate visitors from home and abroad.

There also was little need for visible fortifications, Iraqis say: Under Saddam's iron fist, Iraqis with well-honed instincts were naturally aware of the unwritten rules that applied in the dictator's presence.

Now, the Green Zone is heavily fortified with concrete walls and hundreds of heavily armed guards, dogs and security checkpoints.

However, the effect could be bewildering for someone coming into this 10-square-kilometre enclave from the chaos of the city.

Abu-Anwar, 33, is an Iraqi driver of a forklift truck, who works in the enclave. He lifts concrete blocks, which are in big demand there.

'When I enter the Green Zone, I feel I am entering another world. Everything is very different to the world outside its walls,' he said.

After a tense wait in a long queue, several thorough body and vehicle searches and identity checks are undertaken, Abu-Anwar said describing his daily experience at the gate of the Green Zone.

'Searches usually take hours, from six to 10 in the morning. Eeveryday, hundreds of people have to undergo several levels of security checks through three very big gates,' Abu-Anwar said.

'After the search that also involves undressing, you finally enter the world of the Green Zone,' Abu-Anwar said.

At first, a visitor from Baghdad's dusty streets is usually taken by the park-like expanse of green lawns, a fantasy of ponds and artificial streams that people can cross on ornamental bridges.

'US guards watch over us wherever we happen to work in the zone. They provide us with means of comfort and delicious meals,' Abu-Anwar said, speaking fondly of US soldiers he meets in the Green Zone.

'We work in a very friendly environment and spend unbelievably nice time with US troops, especially women soldiers who like to have their photos taken with us,' Abu-Anwar said.

'I once had a serious injury in one of my fingers in a US military camp in the zone and received an exceptionally good medical care there,' Abu-Anwar said.

'US army doctors treated me as if I were a member of the US military. Had I suffered the same injury outside the Green Zone, I would have had my finger severed,' he said, thanking the doctors.

But with the volleys of mortars and rockets raining on the zone almost daily, even working in this area becomes a risky affair for fans of the Green Zone, such as Abu-Anwar.

The enclave has long been a target of deadly violence but the intensity of rocket attacks has come to a height since late March, following the Iraqi government onslaught on Shiite militiamen in the South and Baghdad's Sadr City.

US officials and Iraqi guards were killed in one such attack.

'Working in the Green Zone is profitable but fraught with risks because of the barrages of mortars falling on the area almost daily,' Abu-Anwar said.

'When warning alarms are sparked by rockets attacks, we are taken to fortified shelters within seconds,' Abu-Anwar said.

The intensity of rocket attacks has changed the relatively relaxed atmosphere in the Green Zone.

Now, concrete bunkers are placed everywhere around the zone to make it possible for people to duck and cover as soon as the sirens sound.