Censored Internet Cafe Opens In Iraq

Fri., July 28, 2000

The Iraqi government opened the country’s first Internet cafe Thursday in an attempt to provide its isolated people with a glimpse of what is happening in the outside world.

Patrons of the Internet cafe in Baghdad will be allowed to browse Web sites that have been government-screened to assure they do not violate “the precepts of Islamic religion” or offend “morals and ethics,” Iraq’s transport and communications minister, Ahhmed Murtada Ahmed Khalil, said.

The sole provider of Internet services in Iraq is the Ministry of Culture and Information, and access until now had been restricted to government use.

Khalil said similar cafes will be opened elsewhere in Baghdad and in other major Iraqi cities.

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Censored Internet Cafe Opens In Iraq

Jesse Tinsley

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