KR: Iraqis try to preserve some sense of celebration on New Year's Eve

[Rose Siding]

Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Until Thursday, Tara Raad's New Year's Eve outfit - a green, sleeveless dress decorated with sparkling flowers that glimmer in the light - hadn't left her closet since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Thursday she packed it in her suitcase for a trip to Syria.

Eager to find a way to celebrate New Year's without violating Iraq's 11 p.m. curfew, she and a group of friends left Friday on the 10-hour trip to Damascus, where they hope to welcome 2006 without nagging concerns about security.

Fearful that public places might be bombed, and forbidden by curfews to be outside their homes at midnight, Iraqis are searching for ways to celebrate the New Year without running afoul of police or terrorists.
....
Experts here said that while the curfew may be necessary, it has had a particularly tough impact on a city that used to celebrate its nightlife. Nighttime was a particularly pleasant time to meet friends, especially in the summer, when daytime temperatures can be debilitating.

"Iraqis are under so much mental pressure and yet have so few options for releasing that tension," said Ihsan Mohammed al-Hassan, a professor of sociology at Baghdad University. "The Iraqis had no political freedom in the past, but enjoyed personal freedom. Now after the fall, they have political freedom, but lost their personal freedom."

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