Signs of Iraq war persist where al Qaeda still rules

(Reuters) - A spruced-up Baghdad is welcoming Arab leaders this week to declare that war is over and Iraq is open for business. To Um Qassim, carrying her shopping beside a rubbish-filled creek four hours drive from the capital, it is a cruel joke.

In her home city of Mosul, out of view of visiting dignitaries, al Qaeda still controls the streets and people like her still whisper about death.

"They killed my neighbor three days ago, and later they sent his family a message saying, 'We are sorry, your son was not targeted, he was killed by mistake,'" she said quietly to Reuters, trying to catch her breath as she hauled two heavy sacks of food home from the market.

Arriving in Mosul from Baghdad, you feel the sinister lurch of going back in time to 2006 or 2007, the days of sectarian slaughter when Iraq's militant gangs stalked the streets and killed tens of thousands of their countrymen.

The familiar signs, long-since vanished from Baghdad, are all still here: the towering concrete blast walls, the dirt obstacles piled in the centre of the roads to slow down racing attackers, the buildings wrecked by the impact of shells. Read More