Iraqis burn books in culture protest

[sabra]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20329101-1702,00.html

Iraqis burn books in culture protest

SEVERAL of Iraq's leading booksellers and writers burned a pyre of books today to denounce a curfew which they said has turned the centre of Baghdad's intellectual life into "a street of ghosts".

In a demonstration dubbed the “Fires of Al-Mutanabi”, authors and publishers denounced a weekly four-hour travel ban during Friday prayers in the war-torn Iraqi capital, which they said was stifling an important cultural centre.

Iraqi police enforce the ban to protect Sunni and Shiite worshippers from sectarian attacks, but the restrictions have had a knock-on effect on many of the other things Baghdadis once did on their weekly day of rest.

“Al-Mutanabi Street is the bread and butter of every cultured man. The curfew on Friday stops many Iraqis flocking to this place,” Naim al-Shatri, the owner of the oldest bookshop in the street, said.

“It has become a street of ghosts.”