Regression rising

The hoarding in Um Al Broom Square was meant to advertise a mobile phone service. Instead, it has become a message to those who dare to resist the rising tide of fundamentalism in Iraq's second largest city — Basra.

The model's face is now covered with black paint. Graffiti scrawled below reads, "No! No to unveiled women".

That message joins the chorus of ultraconservative voices and radical militias that are transforming this once-liberal port city that boasted some of Iraq's liveliest nightclubs into a bastion of hardliners since the fall of Saddam Hussain.

Now, as the British prepare to exit Basra Province altogether, they leave behind what has been described by many as an emerging "Shiite Taliban state" — a reference to Sunni extremists in Afghanistan.

And with the British gone, many say, they leave open the possibility that Iran could extend its influence within the mosques, religious schools and militant party headquarters. Over the past four years, Basra has undergone its own Islamic revolution of sorts.

Posters of the leader of Iran's 1979 social and religious revolt, Ayatollah Khomeini, who at the time imposed similar limits on his society, are plastered everywhere in Basra.

"There is pressure from parties backed by Iran to sideline liberal, secular and Leftist forces," says a labour union leader and a former communist who, like most people interviewed for this story, did not want to be named for fear of retaliation. "Personal freedoms are being squashed, the fabric of Iraqi society has been ruined."

Public parties are banned. Selling music CDs is forbidden in shops. Artists and performers are severely restricted and even labelled as heretics. A famous city landmark — a replica of the Lion of Babylon statue —was blown up by militants in July. It was considered idolatrous, according to the strict interpretation of Islam.

Growing presence

Although Basra is mostly Shiite, it has long prided itself on being home to a vibrant mix of Sunnis, Christians of all sects and ancient communities, such as the Sabean Mandaeans.

But after Hussain's regime fell, the sway of radical Islamic militias, such as Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army, began growing in the city, as happened in the rest of the country.

A leader in Al Sadr's movement in Basra, who gave his name as Abu Zahra, says that he and many of his partisans firmly believe that the United States and its allies invaded Iraq to fight Imam Mahdi and prevent his re-emergence.

He says the Mahdi Army is against violence in propagating what they consider Islamic behaviour but that it is difficult to rein in all members. "Some are overzealous sometimes and come up with their own interpretations but Syed Mohammad Sadiq Al Sadr was clear: Unveiled women must be shunned," he says, referring to Al Sadr's late father and the movement's spiritual leader. "We are a Muslim majority and we want to apply Islamic law."

"There is a certain desire for sanctity on the street that we can't touch," says Mahdi Al Tamimi, a local official with the Ministry of Human Rights.

But several people explain that the Islamist parties that dominate the provincial council — many of which maintain close ties to Shiite Iran — are doing little to stop the tide of hardline values because it suits their own long-term agendas of establishing an Islamic state in Iraq.

Journalists and writers, too, say they have to think twice before publishing anything critical. "You have to write in codes and anything about the militias and the links of Islamist parties to Iran are red lines that must not be crossed," a newspaper editor said.

Three journalists were killed in Basra in 2005: US journalist Steven Vincent, who reported from Basra for the Christian Science Monitor; Iraqi reporter for the New York Times, Fakher Haidar; and the Basra correspondent for US-funded Al Hurra Television, Abdul Hussain Khazaal.

Many people, including the newspaper editor, accuse the Mahdi Army of being the No 1 and most brutal enforcer of what they deem Islamic moral practices.

Though Christians in Basra continue to practise their faith and those spoken to for this article have not been subjected to direct threats, as have those in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, many have opted to voluntarily leave an increasingly hostile environment.

The Sunnis in Basra, however, have not been as fortunate. Many have been killed or forcefully pushed out from inside the city as part of the sectarian war that has swept the whole country. Most are now concentrated in areas south of Basra.

Given the absence of an effective and trusted police force, most people now rely on their tribes and clans to protect them.

"Many of my colleagues have tacked their tribal affiliation at the end of their name. This is how low we have sunk. Educated people now have to rely on their family and clan to protect them," a doctor said bitterly.

Amid this crackdown, however, there is some dissent. London-based professor of music and renowned oud player Ahmad Mukhtar, is helping a renowned local band of traditional musicians to hold concerts outside Iraq.

"They practise secretly at a depot in an industrial area in Basra and their female vocalist must travel separately and incognito when they go out," he says.

He is also supporting a Basra-based maker of ouds, a traditional Arab string instrument, who is considered to be the best in the world. "We smuggle them to Dubai and then we ship them to London," he says.

And, in June, Abdul Aziz Al Dahr, a local painter, opened the city's only art gallery. "We can't just sit in the dark; we must light a candle," he says.

Iraq's gateway

For Iraqis, Basra is "Thagher Al Iraq", meaning Iraq's mouth. For Basrawis, as the province's natives are known, it is the "Venice of the East", with its meandering canals and gondola-shaped boats decorated with flowers that once carried newlyweds and lovers.

With their distinctive and strong sense of southern identity, known as "janoubiyah", the city is the equivalent of New York City, and as Basrawis will tell you, has been unjustly playing second fiddle to Baghdad.

It is a major trade and commerce hub on the Arabian Gulf. The legendary globe-trotting Sinbad the Sailor from "One Thousand and One Nights" fables called Basra home. Basra was also home to some of Iraq's most beloved writers and poets, such as Badr Shakir Al Sayab.

Traditional Basrawi musical performances, known as the Basra Khashaba, feature male dancers who do break-dance-like moves, clearly influenced by traditional African dance. The native cuisine is fish cooked with Indian spices, influenced by Arab neighbours.

Basra was founded in AD635 and is the seat of Basra Province. It covers an area of about 7,300 square miles and borders Iran to the east. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet at Qurnah, north of Basra, where they form the Shatt Al Arab waterway flowing into the Gulf. The province is home to four major ports: Umm Qasr, Khor Al Zubair, Abu Flous and Maaqal.