The Baghdad cab ride from hell

Raw video:Baghdad,Iraq:Photographer Steve Bent speeds through the Iraqi capital with a gun-toting security aide determined to get him to an assignment on time.

TEXT FROM SOURCE:The aging Nissan 4x4 is racing and rattling through the potholed roads of the Mansour district of Baghdad. The young driver, his hand glued to the horn, is taking instructions from his “boss” in the front passenger seat. Frantic exchanges of Arab male voices fill the car.As we screech around a bend opposite the remains of one of Saddam’s palaces, the road ahead is gridlocked with three lanes of morning rush-hour traffic. The boss (who wishes to remain anonymous) takes immediate action: he pulls out his Heckler & Koch 9mm pistol and squeezes his upper body through the window. With the gun in his hand we hurtle towards the oncoming traffic.


Welcome to minicab's, Baghdad style, or as close as you can get to them in a war-torn city.As a photographer, I have made thousands of car journeys in Iraq over the past five years, which can by turns be boring, frustrating or terrifying, but even by Baghdad’s standards this one stands out......
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