Techno-savvy Iraqis surf cyber waves

An Iraqi woman talks on her mobile phone as she walks on campus at Baghdad's Al-Mustansiriyah University recently.Photo: AFP

Saddam Hussein deemed Iraqis could live without modern technology such as mobile phones and the Internet. Now that his regime has been swept away, they are finding they just can't get enough of it.
"The Internet is indispensable for us," said a Baghdad mobile phone vendor, who gave his name only as Sajjad.
"I download songs, pictures of actresses and video clips," added the 25-year-old salesman, who admitted that he then loads these, with a few modifications, into the phones he sells.
"My clients ask for a lot for songs, pictures and weird and funny video clips which I usually download from YouTube.com," said Sajjad.
"Some of my clients have no money to buy credit so they cannot speak on their phones. But their handsets are filled with video clips, songs and pictures."