Internet cafe opens in Baghdad

Only the rich will benefit from the move

By Rick Fountain

The Iraqi Government has opened the country's first internet cafe in the capital Baghdad and has promised to set up other premises for public computer access in major cities.

The Communications Minister, Ahmad Murtada, who inaugurated the Baghdad cafe, said certain websites would be blocked, including those which were considered to violate the precepts of Islam.

Websites that offend the ruling Ba'ath party will probably be barred

Even though some Iraqi citizens have acquired computers that could get them on to the world wide web, they have never had open access.

Authority to do so, via modem and telephone line, has been restricted to a few official places, such as government ministries, and the only internet service provider has been the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Controls

Controls on information are so tight that satellite dishes are banned and even fax machines require authorisation.

The Communications Minister, Ahmad Murtada, who opened the cyber cafe, said it had come about in spite of attempts to block the supply of equipment by British and American diplomats at the United Nations.

The minister said patrons at the cafe would be allowed to access almost any website other than those which violated Islamic precepts or offended against morals or ethics.

He did not explain how such rules might be enforced, but experts assume that some kind of filter would be applied to exclude material hostile to the government or the ruling Ba'ath Party.

It would also, doubtless, aim to prevent access to the internet's innumerable amateur and commercial pornography sites.

But in view of the experiences of other governments who are still struggling to make the internet manageable, Iraq's belief that it can take what it wants and keep the rest out seems at best optimistic.