Tikrit's first post-war Internet cafe opens

(23 Aug 2003) 1. US soldier outside internet cafe 2. Sign for internet cafe tilt down to white ribbon across entrance 3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hashim Hassan, internet cafe owner: "We appreciate you coming and we appreciate the effort that has been spent on this place and I think everyone will be happy when this is open and we have been waiting for this for a long time so let's do it. " 4. Hasim cuts white ribbon surrounded by media 5. Soldiers inside cafe 6. Young man at computer 7. Computer screen 8. Another man at computer 9. Close up his hands on keyboard 10. Close up hand using mouse 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) US Major, Troy Rader: "It's a good day, it took a lot of effort, approximately three to three-and-a-half months to get the place open and operational, suffered through a couple of obstacles, building relocations, attacks on the building, things of that nature. So we are very happy to have the place open up today so the people of Iraq can come in and freely surf the information super-highway as we call it back home in America." 12. More soldiers inside cafe 13. Food and soft drinks being served for opening ceremony STORYLINE: Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit got its first post-war Internet cafe on Saturday, where residents could browse any site free of fear of being monitored or blocked. The owner, Hashim Hassan, proudly cut the white ribbon at a small ceremony to mark the cafe's opening. Iraqis, US soldiers and commanders crammed into the one-room Internet cafe they had helped set up with 24-thousand (US) dollars in funds from the 4th Infantry Division's budget. Hassan ran a similar cafe for two years before the war but then access to the internet was restricted and tightly controlled. Now Hassan says "there are no restrictions." Still, the risks of cooperating with US troops in a region that is a hotbed of Saddam loyalists and resistance to U.S. occupation are high. Last week, in the main street where Hassan's cafe sits, just around the corner from the 4th Infantry's sprawling headquarters, a US interpreter was killed and two soldiers were wounded in an ambush. The blast and shooting shattered the windows and destroyed some of the computers on the first floor of the glass-and-marble building. The opening had to be delayed for a few days. Hassan said he wasn't afraid working with the Americans would make him a target. But some of co-worker, Naeb Hassan, said Tikrit remained a dangerous and unsafe place where "some people still love Saddam." But for Tikrit's young men, no women were sitting by the computers, browsing the Net for 1,800 Iraqi dinars (one (US) dollar ) an hour is an opportunity to learn, see and explore things unavailable until now. The cafe has had up to 30 visitors a day since it started operating five days ago, Hashim Hassan said. US Major Troy Rader said the satellite connection and equipment was bought in Dubai and the work took four months to complete, including the repairs from last week's ambush and a relocation of the office. It's the first private, non-government-run Internet cafe in Tikrit and he said similar projects were planned for Baiji, Samarra and ad-Dawr. They are all towns in the region patrolled by the 4th Infantry. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...