Iraqi women have coffee and tea at a cafe called Fairouz Cafe after the female Lebanese singer, in Basra, Iraq, December 29, 2018. Picture taken December 29, 2018. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Mohammed Abdul Ameer's nostalgia for better days and his roots in the Levant were what inspired him to open Basra's first mixed-gender cafe since the rule of Saddam Hussein, and themed in honour of the Lebanese singer Fairouz.
The southern Iraqi city, the home of Abdul Ameer's father, has since Saddam was toppled in a 2003 U.S. invasion seen conflict, unrest, religious conservatism and an acute lack of jobs and services.
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